HISTORY  OF  THE  STRUGGLE 


FOR 


SLAVERY 


IN  THE 


UNITED    STATES, 


f 

FROM    THE 


DECLARATION  OF  INDEPENDENCE 


TO    THE    PRESENT    DAY. 


MAIXLY 


COMPILED    AND    CONDENSED    FROM    THE    JOURNALS    OF    CONGRESS    AND 

OTHER    OFFICIAL    RECORDS,    AND    SHOWING    THE    VOTE     BY 

YEAS    AND    NAYS    ON    THE  MOST    IMPORTANT 

DIVISIONS    IN   EITHER   HOUSE. 


BY    HOKACE     QREELEY. 


NEW   YORK: 

DIX,    EDWARDS    &    CO.,   321   BROADWAY. 
18-56. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1856,  by 

DIX,   EDWARDS   &    CO., 
In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  for  the  Southern  District  of  New  York. 


MILLKK  &,  HOLM  AX, 
Printer  and  Stereotype™,  N.  Y. 


CONTENTS, 


Page. 
I.  Slavery  in  the  Colonies        -         --------         1 

Origin  in  1620— Virginia  the  first  Slave  colony— Prohibited  in  Georgia— Adjudged  illegal 
in  Massachusetts— Slave  Importation  prohibited  in  Virginia  and  other  colonies— Lord 
Mansfield's  Decision.  -  -  •  -  -  -  1  to  3 

II.  Slavery  under  the  Confederation  3 

State  cessions  of  Public  Lands— Mr.  Jefferson's  Slavery  Restriction  in  1784 — Defeated  in 
Continental  Congress  by  a  minority  vote — Mr.  Dane's  modified  Restriction  (1787) — 
Carried -  -  3  to  4 

III.  Under  the  Federal  Constitution  -  4 

Constitutional  provisions  affecting  Slavery — History  thereof— Amendments  -  4  to  5 

IV.  Cessions  of  Southern  Territory  5 

Kentucky  formed  from  Virginia— Tennessee  from  North  Carolina— Alabama  from  Geor 
gia—Congress  forbidden  by  terms  of  cession  to  abolish  or  prohibit  Slavery  5 

V.  Early  attempts  to  override  the  Ordinance  of  '87  5 

Ohio— Indiana— John  Randolph's  Report— Csesar  Rodney's— Mr.  Garnett'fl— Mr.  Parke's 
—Jesse  Franklin's  -  -  -  :  -  5  to  7 

VI.  The  First  Missouri  Struggle  8 

Purchase  of  Louisiana— Missouri  Territory— Applies  for  Admission  as  a  State— Gen.  Tall- 
madge's  Restriction  on  Slavery— Yeas  and  Nays  thereon— Debate  by  Hon.  Messrs.!. 
Fuller  of  Mass.,  James  Tallmadge  of  N.  Y.,  Scott  of  Mo.,  Cobb  of  Ga.,  and  Livermore 
of  N.  H.— Vote  in  the  Senate— Bill  fails  by  disagreement  -  8  to  21 

VII.  The  Second  Missouri  Struggle  ...  -        21 

Missouri  Question  Revived— Memorial  of  Daniel  Webster                 ...  22 

Resolves    of  the  Legislatures  of    New- York,  New- Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Delaware  and 

Kentucky                        -  25  to  27 

Mr.  Thomas's  Amendment— Votes  in  the  Senate                                                             *  -  27  to  28 

Votes  in  the  House— Compromise  Bill  passed             -           •           -           -           •  -  29  to  39 

VIII.  The  Third  Missouri  Struggle  .-       30 

Missouri  Constitution  respecting  negroes— Mr.  Clay's  second  Compromise  adopted.        -      -  30  to  31 

IX".  Extension  of  Missouri       --  ...  -31 

Mr.  Clayton's  Report — Adopted  without  division. 31 

225788 


iv  CONTENTS. 

Page. 

X.  The  Annexation  of  Texas  31 

Early  History  of  Texas — Her  Independence, 31  to  32 

Anti-Annexation  Address  of  J.  Q.  Adams,  Seth  M.  Gates,  and  others,  to  the  People  of 
the  United  States, 

Northern  opposition — The  Secret  Circular, 36 

Mr.  Calhoun's  Annexation  Dispatch  to  W.  R.  King,  Embassador  at  Paris,        ...          37 
Polk  and  Dallas  elected— Propositions  in  Congress  respecting  Annexation— Votes  there 
on — Measure  Carried — The  Joint  Resolves,     -         -        -        -        -        -        -        -        -40  to  44 

XL  The  Wilmot  Proviso  -       44 

Proceedings  and  Votes  in  Congress  thereon, •  -  44  to  46 

Gen.  Cass's  letter  to  A.  0.  P.  Nicholson, 47 

Congress  resumed— Mr.  I.  P.  Walker's  proposition— Mr.  R.  W.  Thompson's  amend 
ment—Failure  in  the  Senate, 48  to  52 

XII.  Oregon  (Bill  to  organize  as  a  Territory)  -     52 

Ordinance  of  '87  applied— Mr.  Douglas  moves  to  extend  Missouri  Compromise  Line  to 
the  Pacifif— Senate  approves— House  rejects— Senate  recedes— Bill  passed,  -  -  52  to  54 

XIII.  The  Compromise  of  1850  -       -      54 

President  Taylor's  Message— Gen.  Houston's  Resolves— Mr.  Clay's— Mr.  John  Bell's— 
Mr.  Clay's  plan  discussed  by  Messrs.  Foote  of  Miss.,  Mason  of  Va.,  Jeff.  Davis — Mr. 
Clay— Mr.  Wm.  R.  King— Mr.  Downs  of  La.— Mr.  Butler  of  S.  C.  -  -  -  -  54  to  59 

Select  Committee  raised  by  the  Senate— Mr.  Clay's  Report, 60 

Proceedings  s*nd  votes  in  Congress  thereon,     -        -       - 60  to  69 

The  Acts  of  1850  concerning  California,  Texas,  New-Mexico,  and  Utah,   -  70 

XIV.  The  Kansas-Nebraska  Struggle  -    71 

Atchison  in  '53 — Pierce's  Inaugural  and  First  Message,            -----  72 

f  Mr.  Douglas's  Report  introducing  the  Nebraska  Bill,         -                      -           -  73 
-,  Proceedings  and  Votes  in  Senate,            .......             -74 

^    Gov.  Seward's  closing  Speech  against  the  bill,        ...  77 

~^   Proceedings  and  Votes  in  the  House,        ....  82 

The  Kansas-Nebraska  Bill,                                        .......  g5 

President  Pierce's  Special  Kansas  Message,     -            - -         _- -  89 

Mr.  Douglas's  Senate  Report  thereon,  : "  yy 

Mr.  Collamer's  Minority  Report,                                                                                                  -  110 

The  Kansas  Investigation — Mr.  Dunn's  proposition — Yeas  and  Nays  thereon,             -       -  118 

Report  of  the  Investigating  Committee,         -                                                                            -  119 

The  House  on  Free  Kansas  Constitution— Mr.  Dunn's  Substitute— Votes— Bill  passed,  146 

The  Topcka  Constitution,           -                                               -  148 
The  Senate  on  Kansas — Douglas's  new  proposition — Various  amendments  rejected — 

Bill  passed,        ...........  155 

The  Toombs-Douglas  bill,       -•           •           -           -           -           ....  ^53 

Mr.  Dunn's  bill  to  recognize  Kansas,                                                                                      -  161 

Mr.  Matteson's  preamble  and  resolves  based  on  Annexation  of  Texas,     ....  163 

House  vote  on  receding  from  Proviso  to  the  Army  bill, -  163 


THE 


HISTOKY   OF   THE    QUESTION 


OP 


SLAVERY  EXTENSION  OR  RESTRICTION. 


MAINLY    BY    DOCUMENTS. 


SLAVERY  IN   THE    COLONIES. 

HUMAN  Slavery,  as  it  existed  in  the  pa 
gan  world,  and  especially  in  the  infancy,  vig 
or,  and  decline  of  Greek  and  Roman  civiliza 
tion,  gradually  died  out  in  the  advancing 
light  of  Christianity.  When  Columbus  open 
ed  the  New  World  to  European  enterprise 
and  settlement,  the  serfdom  of  Russia  and 
Hungary,  and  the  mild  bondage  of  Turkey 
— each  rather  an  Asiatic  or  Scythian  than  a 
European  power — were  the  last  remaining 
vestiges  of  a  system  which  had  pervaded,  and 
mastered,  and  ruined,  the  vast  empires  of  Al 
exander  and  the  Caesars.  The  few  ignorant 
and  feeble  dependents  elsewhere  held  in  vir 
tual  bondage  by  force  rather  of  custom  than 
of  positive  law,  serve  rather  to  establish  than 
disprove  this  general  statement. 

Lust  of  gold  and  power  was  the  main  im 
pulse  of  Spanish  migration  to  the  marvelous 
regions  beyond  the  Atlantic.  And  the  soft 
and  timid  Aborigines  of  tropical  America, 
especially  of  its  islands,  were  first  compelled 
to  surrender  whatever  they  possessed  of  the 
precious  metals  to  the  imperious  and  grasp 
ing  strangers  ;  next  forced  to  disclose  to  those 
strangers  the  sources  whence  they  were  most 
readily  obtained  ;  and  finally  driven  to  toil 
and  delve  for  more,  wherever  power  and  greed 
supposed  they  might  most  readily  be  obtained. 
From  this  point,  the  transition  to  general  en 
slavement  was  ready  and  rapid.  The  gentle 
and  indolent  natives,  unaccustomed  to  rug 
ged,  persistent  toil,  and  revolting  at  the  harsh 
and  brutal  severity  of  their  Christian  mas 
ters,  had  but  one  unfailing  resource — death. 
Through  privation,  hardship,  exposure, 
fatigue  and  despair,  they  drooped  and  died, 
until  millions  were  reduced  to  a  few  miser 
able  thousands  within  the  first  century  of 
Spanish  rule  in  America. 

A  humane  and  observant  priest  (Las  Casas.) 
witnessing  these  cruelties  and  sufferings,  was 
moved  by  pity  to  devise  a  plan  for  their  ter 
mination.  He  suggested  and  urged  the  poli 
cy  of  substituting  for  these  feeble  and  perish 
ing  "  Indians"  the  hardier  natives  of  Western  I 


Africa,  whom  their  eternal  wars  and  maraud 
ing  invasions  were  constantly  exposing  to 
captivity  and  sale  as  prisoners  of  war,  and 
who,  as  a  race,  might  be  said  to  be  inured  to 
the  hardships  and  degradations  of  Slavery 
by  an  immemorial  experience.  The  sugges 
tion  was  unhappily  approved,  and  the  woes 
and  miseries  of  the  few  remaining  Aborigines 
of  the  islands  known  to  us  as  "  West  Indies/' 
were  inconsiderably  prolonged  by  exposing 
the  whole  continent  for  unnumbered  genera 
tions  to  the  evils  and  horrors  of  African  slave 
ry.  The  author  lived  to  perceive  and  deplore 
the  consequences  of  his  expedient. 

The  sanction  of  the  Pope  having  been  ob 
tained  for  the  African  slave-trade  by  repre 
sentations  which  invested  it  with  a  look  of 
philanthropy,  Spanish  and  Portuguese  mer 
cantile  avarice  was  readily  enlisted  in  its 
prosecution,  and  the  whole  continent,  north 
and  south  of  the  tropics,  became  a  slave-mart 
before  the  close  of  the  sixteenth  century. 

Holland,  a  comparatively  new  and  Pro 
testant  state,  unable  to  shelter  itself  from  the 
reproaches  of  conscience  and  humanity  be 
hind  a  Papal  bull,  entered  upon  the  new  traf 
fic  more  tardily  ;  but  its  profits  soon  overbore 
all  scruples,  and  British  merchants  were  not 
proof  against  the  glittering  evidences  of  their 
success.  But  the  first  slave-ship  that  ever 
entered  a  North  American  port  for  the  sale 
of  its  human  merchandise,  was  a  Dutch  trad 
ing-vessel  which  landed  twenty  negro  bond 
men  at  Jamestown,  the  nucleus  of  Virginia, 
almost  simultaneously  with  the  landing  of  the 
Pilgrims  of  the  Mayflower  on  Plymouth  rock, 
Dec.  22d,  1620. 

The  Dutch  slaver  had  chosen  his  market 
with  sagacity.  -  Virginia  was  settled  by  CA 
VALIERS — gentlemen-adventurers  aspiring  to 
live  by  their  own  wits  and  other  men's  labor 
— with  the  necessary  complement  of  follow 
ers  and  servitors.  Few  of  her  pioneers  cher 
ished  any  earnest  liking  for  downright,  per 
sistent,  muscular  exertion ;  yet  some  ex 
ertion  was  urgently  required  to  clear  away 
the  heavy  forest  which  all  but  covered  the 
soil  of  the  infant  colony,  and  grow  the  To 
bacco  which  easily  became  its  staple  export. 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  SLAVERY  RESTRICTION. 


by  means  of  which  nearly  everything  required 
by  its  people  but  food  was  to  be  paid  for 
in  England.  The  slaves,  therefore,  found 
ready  "purchasers  at  satisfactory  prices,  and 
the  success  of  the  first  venture  induced  others ; 
until  not  only  Virginia  but  every  part  of 
British  America  was  supplied  with  African 
slaves. 

This  traffic,  with  the  bondage  it  involved, 
had  no  justification  in  British  nor  in  the  early 
colonial  laws  ;  but  it  proceeded  nevertheless, 
much  u.s  an  importation  of  dromedaries  tore- 
place  with  presumed  economy  our  horses 
and  oxen  might  now  do.  Georgia  was  the 
first  among  the  colonies  to  resist  and  remand 
it  in  her  original  charter  under  the  lead  of 
her  noble  founder-Governor,  General  Ogle- 
thorpe  ;  but  the  evil  was  too  formidable  and 
inveterate  for  local  extirpation,  and  a  few 
years  saw  it  established,  even  in  Georgia  ; 
first  evading  or  defying,  and  at  length  mold 
ing  and  transforming  the  law. 

It  is  very  common  at  this  day  to  speak  of 
our  revolutionary  struggle  as  commenced  and 
hurried  forward  by  a  union  of  free  and  slave 
colonies  ;  but  such  is  not  the  fact.  However 
slender  and  dubious  its  legal  basis,  Slavery  ex 
isted  in  each  and  all  of  the  colonies  that  unit 
ed  to  declare  and  maintain  their  independ 
ence.  Slaves  were  proportionately  more  nu 
merous  in  certain  portions  of  the  South;  but 
they  were  held  with  impunity  throughout 
the  North,  advertised  like  dogs  or  horses,  and 
sold  at  auction,  or  otherwise,  as  chattels.  Ver 
mont,  then  a  territory  in  dispute  between  New- 
Harnpsliire  and  New- York,  and  with  very 
few  civilized  inhabitants,  mainly  on  its  south 
ern  and  eastern  borders,  is  probably  the  only 
portion  of  the  revolutionary  confederation 
never  polluted  by  the  tread  of  a  slave. 

The  spirit  of  liberty,  aroused  or  intensi 
fied  by  the  protracted  struggle  of  the  colo 
nists  against  usurped  and  abused  power  in 
the  mother  country,  soon  found  itself  engaged 
in  natural  antagonism  against  the  current 
form  of  domestic  despotism.  "  How  shall 
we  complain  of  arbitrary  or  unlimited  power 
exerted  over  us,  while  we  exert  a  still  more 
despotic  and  inexcusable  power  over  a  de 
pendent  and  benighted  race  ?"  was  very  fair 
ly  asked.  Several  suits  were  brought  in 
Massachusetts — where  the  fires  of  liberty 
burnt  earliest  and  brightest — to  test  the  legal 
right  of  slave-holding  ;  and  the  leading  Whigs 
gave  their  money  and  their  legal  services  to 
support  these  actions,  which  were  generally, 
on  one  ground  or  another,  successful.  Efforts 
for  an  express  law  of  emancipation,  however, 
failed  even  in  Massachusetts;  the  Legislature, 
doubtless,  apprehending  that  such  a  measure, 
by  alienating  the  slaveholders,  would  increase 
the  number  and  power  of  the  Tories  ;  but  in 
1777,  a  privateer  having  brought  a  lot  of 
captured  slaves  into  Jamaica,  and  advertised 
them  for  sulc,  the  General  Court,  as  the  leg 
islative  assembly  was  called,  interfered  and 


j  had  them  set  at  liberty.  The  first  Continent- 
I  al  Congress  which  resolved  to  resist  the 
usurpations  and  oppressions  of  Great  Britain 
by  force,  had  already  declared  that  our  strug 
gle  would  be  "  for  the  cause  of  human  na 
ture,"  which  the  Congress  of  1776,  under 
the  lead  of  Thomas  Jefferson,  expanded  into 
the  noble  affirmation  of  the  right  of  "  all  men 
to  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness" 
contained  in  the  immortal  preamble  to  the 
Declaration  of  Independence.  A  like  aver 
ment  that  '  all  men  are  born  free  and  equal,' 
was  in  1780  inserted  in  the  Massachusetts  Bill 
of  Rights ;  and  the  Supreme  Court  of  that 
State,  in  1783,  on  an  indictment  of  a  master 
for  assault  and  battery,  held  this  declaration 
a  bar  to  slaveholdiug  henceforth  in  the  state. 

A  similar  clause  in  the  second  Constitution 
of  New-Hampshire,  was  held  by  the  courts 
of  that  State  to  secure  freedom  to  every  child, 
born  therein  after  its  adoption.  Pennsylvania, 
in  1780,  passed  an  act  prohibiting  the*further 
introduction  of  slaves  and  securing  freedom 
to  all  persons  born  in  that  State  thereafter. 
Connecticut  and  Rhode  Island  passed  similar 
acts  in  1784.  Virginia,  1778,  on  motion 
of  Mr.  Jefferson,  prohibited  the  further 
importation  of  slaves;  and  in  1782,  re 
moved  all  legal  restrictions  on  emancipa 
tion  :  Maryland  adopted  both  of  these  in  1783. 
North  Carolina,  in  1786,  declared  the  intro 
duction  of  Slaves  into  that  state  "  of  evil  con 
sequences  and  highly  impolitic,"  and  imposed 
a  duty  of  £5  per  head  thereon.  New-York 
and  New-Jersey  followed  the  example  of 
Virginia  and  Maryland,  including  the  domes 
tic  in  the  same  interdict  with  the  foreign  slave 
trade.  Neither  of  these  States,  however,  de 
clared  a  general  emancipation  until  many 
years  thereafter,  and  Slavery  did  not  wholly 
cease  in  New-York  until  about  1830,  nor  in 
New-Jersey  till  a  much  later  date.  The 
distinction  of  free  and  slave  States,  with  the 
kindred  assumption  of  a  natural  antagonism 
between  the  North  and  South,  was  utterly 
unknown  to  the  men  of  the  Revolution. 

Before  the  Declaration  of  Independence, 
but  during  the  intense  ferment  which  preced 
ed  it,  and  distracted  public  attention  from 
everything  else,  Lord  Mansfield  had  rendered 
his  judgment  from  the  King's  Bench,  which 
expelled  Slavery  from  England,  and  ought  to 
have  destroyed  it  in  the  colonies  as  well. 
The  plaintiff  in  this  famous  case  was 
James  Somerset,  a  native  of  Africa,  car 
ried  to  Virginia  as  a  slave,  taken  thence 
by  his  master  to  England,  and  there  in 
cited  to  resist  the  claim  of  his  master  to 
his  services,  and  assert  his  right  to  liberty. 
In  the  first  recorded  case,  involving  the 
legality  of  modern  slavery  in  England,  it 
was  held  (1697)  that  negroes,  "  being  usual 
ly  bought  and  sold  among  merchants  as  mer 
chandise,  and  also  being  infidels,  there  might 
be  a  property  in  them  sufficient  to  maintain 
trover. "  But  this  was  overruled  by  Chief  Jus- 


SLAVERY  UNDER  THE  CONFEDERATION. 


tice  Holt  from  the  King's  Bench  (1697,)  rul 
ing  that  "  so  soon  as  a  negro  lands  in  England 
he  is  free ;"  and  again,  (1702)  that "  there" is  no 
such  thing  as  a  slave  by  the  law  of  England." 
This  judgment  proving  exceedingly  trouble 
some  to  planters  and  merchants  from  slave- 
holding  colonies  visiting  the  mother  country 
with  their  servants,  the  merchants  concerned 
in  the  American  trade,  in  1729,  procured  from 
Yorke  and  Talbot,  the  Attorney  General  and 
Solicitor  General  of  the  Crown,  a  written 
opinion  that  negroes,  legally  enslaved  else 
where,  might  be  held  as  slaves  in  England, 
and  that  even  baptism  was  no  bar  to  the  mas 
ter's  claim.  This  opinion  was.  in  1749,  held 
to  be  sound  law  by  Yorke  (now  Lord  Hard- 
wicke),  sitting  as  Judge,  on  the  ground  that, 
if  the  contrary  ruling  of  Lord  Holt  were  up 
held,  it  would  abolish  slavery  in  Jamaica  or 
Virginia  as  well  as  in  England  ;  British  law 
being  paramount  in  each.  Thus  the  law 
stood  until  Lord  Mansfield,  in  Somerset's 
case,  reversed  it  with  evident  reluctance,  and 
after  having  vainly  endeavored  to  bring  about 
an  accommodation  between  the  parties. 
When  delay  would,  serve  no  longer,  and  a 
judgment  must  be  rendered,  Mansfield  declar 
ed  it  in  these  memorable  words  : 

"  We  cannot  direct  the  law  ;  the  law  must  di 
rect  us.  **  *  The  state  of  Slavery  is  of  such  a 
nature  that  it  is  incapable  of  being  introduced  on 
any  reasons,  moral  or  political,  but  only  by  posi 
tive  law.  which  preserves  its  force  long  after  the 
reasons,  occasion,  and  time  itself  whence  it  was 
created,  is  erased  from  the  memory.  It  is  so  odi 
ous  that  nothing  can  be  sufficient  to  support  it 
but  positive  law.  Whatever  inconveniences, 
therefore,  may  follow  from  the  decision,  1  cannot 
say  this  case  is  allowed  or  approved  by  the  law 
of 'England,  and  therefore  the  black  must  be  dis 
charged.1' 

The  natural,  if  not  necessary,  effect  of  this 
decision  on  Slavery  in  these  colonies,  had  their 
connection  with  the  mother  country  been 
continued,  is  sufficiently  obvious. 

II. 

SLAVERY  UNDER  THE  CONFEDERATION. 

THE  disposition  or  management  of  un 
peopled  territories,  pertaining  to  the  thirteen 
recent  colonies  now  confederated  as  inde 
pendent  States,  early  became  a  subject  of 
solicitude  and  of  bickering  among  those 
States,  and  in  Congress.  By  the  terms  of 
their  charters,  some  of  the  colonies  had  an  in 
definite  extension  westwardly,  and  were  only 
limited  by  the  power  of  the  grantor.  Many 
of  these  charters  conflicted  with  each  other — 
the^same  territory  being  included  within  the 
limits  of  two  or  more  totally  distinct  colonies. 
As  the  expenses  of  the  Revolutionary  struggle 
began  to  bear  heavily  on  the  resources  of  the 
States,  it  was  keenly  felt  by  some  that  their 
share  in  the  advantages  of  the  expected 
triumph,  would  be  less  than  that  of  others. 
Massachusetts,  Connecticut,  New- York,  Vir 
ginia,  North  Carolina,  and  Georgia,  laid 


claim  to  spacious  dominions  outside  of  their 
proper  boundaries ;  while  New-Hampshire 
(save  in  Vermont),  Rhode  Island,  New-Jer 
sey,  Maryland,  Delaware,  and  South  Caro 
lina,  possessed  no  such  boasted  resources  to 
meet  the  war-debts  constantly  augmenting. 
They  urged,  therefore,  with  obvious  justice, 
that  these  unequal  advantages  ought  to  be 
surrendered,  and  all  the  lands  included  within 
the  territorial  limits  of  the  Union,  but  out 
side  of  the  proper  and  natural  boundaries  of 
the  several  States,  respectively,  should  be 
ceded  to,  and  held  by.  Congress,  in  trust  for 
the  common  benefit  of  all  the  States,  and 
their  proceeds  employed  in  satisfaction  of  the 
debts  and  liabilities  of  the  Confederation.  This 
reasonable  requisition  was  ultimately,  but 
with  some  reservations,  responded  to.  Vir 
ginia  reserved  a  sufficiency  beyond  the  Ohio 
to  furnish  the  bounties  promised  to  her  re 
volutionary  officers  and  soldiers.  Connecti 
cut,  a  western  reserve,  since  largely  settled 
from  the  parent  State.  Massachusetts  re 
served  five  millions  of  acres,  located  in  West 
ern  New  York,  which  she  claimed  to  be 
entitled  by  her  charter  to  own.  In  either  of 
these  cases,  the  fee  only  was  reserved,  the 
sovereignty  being  surrendered. 

The  cessions  were  severally  made  during, 
or  directly  after,  the  close  of  the  Revolution- 
ary  War.  And  one  of  the  most  obvious  du 
ties  devolved  on  the  Continental  Congress, 
which  held  its  sessions  in  Philadelphia  di 
rectly  after  the  close  of  that  exhausting  strug 
gle,  was  the  framing  of  an  act  or  ordinance 
for  the  government  of  the  vast  domain  thus 
committed  to  its  care  and  disposal. 

The  responsible  duty  of  framing  this  ordi 
nance  was  devolved  by  Congress  on  a  Select 
Committee,  consisting  of  Mr.  Jefferson  of 
Va.  (Chairman),  Chase  of  Md.,  and  Howell 
of  R.  I. ;  who  in  due  time  reported  a  plan  for 
the  government  of  theWestern  Territory,  con 
templating  the  whole  region  included  within 
our  boundaries  west  of  the  old  thirteen  States, 
and  as  far  south  as  our  31st  degree  of  North 
latitude ;  territory  as  yet  partially  ceded  to  the 
Confederation,  but  which  was  expected  to  be 
so,  and  embracing  several  of  our  present  Slave 
States.  This  plan  contemplated  the  ultimate 
division  of  this  territory  into  seventeen  States, 
eight  of  them  situated  below  the  parallel  of 
the  Falls  of  the  Ohio  (now  Louisville),  and 
nine  above  it.  Among  other  rules  reported 
from  this  Committee  by  Mr.  Jefferson,  for 
the  government  of  this  vast  region,  was  the 
following  : 

"  That  after  the  year  1800,  of  the  Christian  era, 
there  shall  be  neither  Slavery  nor  involuntary 
servitude  in  any  of  the  eaid  States,  otherwise 
than  in  punishment  of  crimes,  whereof  the  party 
shall  have  been  convicted  to  be  personally 
guilty." 

April  19th,  1784. — Congress  having  the 
aforesaid  Report  under  consideration,  Mr. 
Spaight,  of  N..C.,  moved  the  striking  out  of 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  SLAVERY  RESTRICTION. 


the  above  paraj 
seconded  the  n 
being  required  1 
and  put  in  thi 
moved  to  be  str 
cided  as  follows 
X.  -HAMPSHIRE  . 

MASSACHUSETTS 
RHODE  ISLAND  . 
CONNECTICUT  .  . 
NEW-YORK  ,  .  . 

NEW-  JERSEY  .  . 
PENNSYLVANIA  . 

MARYLAND  .  .  . 
VIRGINIA  .  .  .  . 

rraph.     Mr.  Read,  of  S.  C., 
otion.     The  ayes  and  nays, 
)y  Mr.  Howell,  were  ordered, 
s   form  —  "  Shall   the  words 
icken  out  stand?"  —  and  de- 
Mr.  Foster   ....  ay  5  , 
"  Blenvelt    .  .  .  ay  ?  *y' 
.  "  Gerry  ay  ?    , 
"  Partridge  ...  ay  \     ->' 
"  Ellery     .  .  .      nv  )    . 

"  Howell  .... 
.  "  Sherman    .  .  . 
"  Wadsworth    . 
.  "  De  Witt    .  .  . 
"  Perine  
.  '  Dick  
.   '  Mifflin  
'  Montgomery  . 
'  Hand   

!{*'' 

ay  ^ 

ay) 

"JJ  I  Divided. 

g!^°- 

no  >  No. 
no  3 

.  '  McHenry  .  .  . 
'  Stone   •  .  .      . 
1  Jefferson  . 

N.  CAROLINA  .  . 
S.  CAROLINA  .  . 

'  Hardy  ...     . 
'  Mercer    .  .      . 
.  "  Williamson    . 
"  Spaight  .  .     . 
.  "  Read    ...      . 
"  Beresford  . 

So  the  question  was  lost,  and  the  words 
^  were  struck  out. 

Lost — although  six  States  voted  aye  to 
only  three  nay  ;  and  though  of  the  members 
present,  fifteen  voted  for,  to  six  against,  Mr. 
Jefferson's  proposition.  But  the  Articles  of 
Confederation  required  a  vote  of  nine  States 
to  carry  a  proposition  ;  and,  failing  to  re- 
c-'vive  so  many,  this  comprehensive  exclusion 
of  Slavery  from  the  Federal  Territories  was 
defeated. 

The  Ordinance,  thus  depleted,  after  under 
going  some  further  amendments,  was  finally 
approved  April  23rd — all  the  delegates,  but 
those  from  South  Carolina,  voting  in  the 
affirmative. 

In  1787  the  last  Continental  Congress, 
sitting  in  New  York  simultaneously  with 
the  Convention  at  Philadelphia  which 
framed  our  Federal  Constitution,  took  up 
abject  of  the  government  of  the  West 
ern  Territory,  raising  a  Committee  thereon, 
of  which  Nathan  Dane,  of  Massachusetts, 
was  Chairman.  That  Committee  reported 
(July  llth),  "An  Ordinance  for  the  gov 
ernment  of  the  Territory  of  the  United 
States,  Northwest  of  the  OA?'o"— the  larger 
contemplated  by  Mr.  Jefferson's  bill 
not  having  been  ceded  by  the  Southern 
Mates  claiming  dominion  over  it.  This  bill 
embodied  many  of  the  provisions  originally 
drafted  und  reported  by  Mr.  Jefferson,  but 
Vvitli  some  modifications,  and  concludes  with 
six  unalterable  articles  of  perpetual  compact, 
the  last  of  them  as  follows  : 

"  There  shall  be  neither  slavery  nor  involun 
tary  servitude,  in  the  said  territory,  otherwise 
thnn  in  punishment  of  crimes,  whereof  the  parties 
•hall  he  duly  convicted." 

To  this  was  added,  prior  to  its  passage, 
the  stipulation  for  the  delivery  of  fugi- 


tives  from  labor  or  service,  soon  after  embo 
died  in  the  Federal  Constitution;  and  in 
this  shape,  the  entire  ordinance  was  adopted 
(July  13th)  by  a  unanimous  vote,  Georgia 
and  the  Carolinas  concurring. 

III. 

UNDER  THE  CONSTITUTION. 

THE  old  Articles  of  Confederation  having 
proved  inadequate  to  the  creation  and  main 
tenance  of  a  capable  and  efficient  national  or 
central  authority,  a  Convention  of  Delegates 
from  the  several  States,  was  legally  assem 
bled  in  Philadelphia,  in  1787 — George  Wash 
ington  President ;  and  the  result  of  its  labors 
was  our  present  Federal  Constitution,  though 
some  amendments,  mainly  of  the  nature  of 
restrictions  on  Federal  power,  were  proposed 
by  the  several  State  Conventions  assembled, 
to  pass  upon  that  Constitution,  and  adopted. 
The  following  are  all  the  provisions  of  that 
instrument,  which  are  presumed  to  relate  to 
the  subject  of  Slavery  : 

(Preamble)  ;  "  We,  the  people  of  the  United 
States,  in  order  to  form  a  more  perfect  Union, 
establish  justice,  insure  domestic  tranquillity, 
provide  for  the  common  defense,  promote  the  ge 
neral  welfare,  and  secure  the  blessings  of  liberty 
to  ourselves  and  our  posterity,  do  ordain  and 
establish  this  Constitution  for  the  United  States 
of  America. 

"Art.  I.  §  1.  All  legislative  powers  herein 
granted,  shall  be  vested  in  a  Congress  of  the 
United  States,  which  shall  consist  of  a  Senate  and 
House  of  Representatives. 

"  §  2.  *  *  *  Representatives  and  direct  taxes 
shall  be  apportioned  among  the  several  States 
which  may  be  included  within  this  Union,  accord 
ing  to  their  respective  numbers,  which  shall  be 
determined,  by  adding  to  the  whole  number  of 
free  persons,  including  those  bound  to  servitude 
for  a  term  of  years,  and  excluding  Indians  not 
taxed,  three-fifths  of  all  other  persons. 

"  §  9.  The  migration  or  importation  of  such 
persons  as  any  of  the  States  now  existing,  shall 
think  proper  to  admit,  shall  not  be  prohibited  by 
the  Congress  prior  to  the  year  1808 ;  but  a  tax  or 
duty  may  be  imposed,  not  exceeding  ten  dollars 
on  each  person. 

"  The  privilege  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus 
shall  not  be  suspended,  unless  when,  in  cases  of 
rebellion  or  invasion,  the  public  safety  may  re 
quire  it. 

"  No  bill  of  attainder,  or  ex  post  facto  laws 
shall  be  passed. 

"  Art,  III.  $  3.  Treason  against  the  United 
States,  shall  consist  only  in  levying  war  against 
them,  or  in  adhering  to  their  enemies,  giving 
them  aid  and  comfort.  - 

"  Art.  IV.  §  2.  The  citizens  of  each  State  shall 
be  entitled  to  all  the  privileges  of  citizens,  in  the 
several  States. 

"  No  person  held  to  service  or  labor  in  one 
State,  under  the  laws  thereof,  escaping  into 
another,  shall,  in  consequence  of  any  law  or  re°-u- 
lation  therein,  be  discharged  from  such  service  or 
labor,  but  shall  be  delivered  up  on  claim  of  the 
party  to  whom  such  service  or  labor  may  be 
due. 

''$3.  New  States  may  be  admitted  by  the 
Congress  into  this  Union  ;  but  no  new  State  shall 
be  formed  or  erected  within  the  jurisdiction  of 
»my  other  State  ;  nor  any  State  be*  formed  by  the 
junction  of  two  or  more  States,  or  parts  of  States, 


EARLY  ATTEMPTS  TO  OVERRIDE  THE  ORDINANCE. 


•without  the   consent  of  the  legislatures   of  the  j  sary  to  the  security  of  a  free  State,  the  right  of 
States  concerned,  as  well  as  of  the  Congress.          j  the* people  to  keep  and  bear  arms  shall  not  be 


The  Congress  shall  have  power  to  dispose 
of,  and  make  all  needful  rules  and  regulations  re 
specting  the  territory  or  other  property,  belonging 
to  the  United  States  ;  and  nothing  in  this  Coiioti- 
tution  shall  be  so  construed  as  to  prejudice  any 
claims  of  the  United  States,  or  of  any  particular 
State. 

"  §  4  The  United  States  shall  guarantee  to 
every  State  in  this  Union,  a  republican  form  of 
government,  and  shall  protect  each  of  them 
against  invasion  ;  and  on  application  of  the  legis 
lature,  or  of  the  executive  when  the  legislature 
cannot  be  convened,  against  domestic  violence. 

•'  Art.  VI.  This  Constitution,  and  the  laws  of 
the  United  States,  which  shall  be  made  in  pur 
suance  thereof,  and  all  the  treaties  made',  or 
which  shall  be  made,  under  the  authority  of  the 
United  States,  shall  be  the  supreme  law  of  the 
land;  and  the  judges  in  every  State  shall  be 
bound  thereby,  anything  in  the  Constitution  or 
laws  of  any  State  to  the  contrary  notwithstand 
ing." 

The  above  are  all— and  perhaps  more  than 
all — the  clauses  of  the  Constitution,  that 
have  been  quoted  on  one  side  or  the  other  as 
bearing  upon  the  subject  of  Slavery. 
ALT-  It  will  be  noted  that  the  word  "  slave,"  or 
"  slavery"  does  not  appear  therein.  Mr. 
Madison,  who  was  a  leading  and  observant 
member  of  the  Convention,  and  who  took 
notes  of  its  daily  proceedings,  affirms  that 
this  silence  was  designed — the  Convention 
being  unwilling  that  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States  should  recognize  property  in 
human  beings.  In  passages  where  slaves 
are  presumed  to  be  contemplated,  they  are 
uniformly  designated  as  ';  persons,"  never  as 
property.  Contemporary  history  proves 
that  it  was  the  belief  of  at  least  a  large  por 
tion  of  the  delegates  that  Slavery  could  not 
long  survive  the  final  stoppage  of  the  slave- 
trade,  which  was  expected  to  (and  did)  occur 
in  1808.  And,  were  Slavery  this  day  banished 
forever  from  the  country,  there  might,  indeed, 
be  some  superfluous  stipulations  in  the 
Federal  compact  or  charter  ;  but  there  are 
none  which  need  be  repealed,  or  essentially 
modified. 

"A  direct  provision  for  the  restoration  of 
fugitive  slaves  to  their  masters  was,  at  least 
once,  voted  down  by  the  Convention. 
Finally,  the  clause  respecting  persons  "  held 
at  service  or  labor,"  was  proposed  by 
Mr.  Butler,  of  South  Carolina,  and  adopted, 
with  little  or  no  opposition. 

The  following,  among  the  amendments 
to  the  Constitution  proposed  by  the 
ratifying  conventions  of  one  or  more  States, 
and  adopted,  are  supposed  by  some  to  bear 
on  the  questions  now  agitated  relative  to 
Slavery  : 

•'  Art.  I.  Congress  shall  make  no  law  respect 
ing  an  establishment  of  religion,  or  prohibitinc- 
the  free  exercise  thereof;  or  abridging  the  free 
dom  of  speech,  or  of  the  press ;  or  of  the  rights 
of  the  people  peacefully  to  assemble,  and  to 
petition  the  Government  for  a  redress  of  griev 
ances. 

"Art.  II.   A  well-regulated  militia  being  neces- 


iniVinged. 

"  Art.  V.     No  person  shall  be  *  *  *  deprived  of 

life,  liberty,  or  property,  without  due  procass  of 
aw  ;  nor  shall  private  property  be  taken  for  pub 
ic  use  without  just  compensation." 

IV. 

CESSIONS   OF    SOUTHERN    TERRITORY. 

THE  State  of  KENTUCKY  was  set  olf  from 
the  State  of  Virginia  in  1790,  by  mutual 
agreement,  and  admitted  into  the  Union  by 
act  of  Congress,  passed  February  4th,  1791 ; 
to  take  effect  June  1st,  1792.  It  was  never 
a  territory  of  the  United  States,  nor  under 
Federal  jurisdiction,  except  as  a  State,  and 
inherited  Slavery  from  the  '  Old  Dominion/ 

The  State  of  North  Carolina,  like  several 
others,  claimed,  during  and  after  the  Revolu 
tion,  that  her  territory  extended  westward  to 
the  Mississippi.  The  settlers  west  of  the 
Alleganics  resisted  this  claim,  and  a  portion 
of  them  assumed  to  establish  (1784-5)  the 
State  of  Franklaud,  in  what  is  now  East 
Tennessee ;  but  North  Carolina  forcibly  re 
sisted  and  subverted  this,  and  a  considerable 
portion  of  the  people  of  the  embryo  State  de 
rided  its  authority,  and  continued  to  act  and 
vote  as  citizens  of  North  Carolina.  A  dele 
gate  (William  Cocke)  was  sent  from  Frank- 
land  to  the  Continental  Congress,  but  was 
not  received  by  that  body.  On  the  22nd  of 
December,  1789,  however — one  month  after 
her  ratification  of  the  Federal  Constitution — 
North  Carolina  passed  an  act,  ceding,  on 
certain  conditions,  all  her  territory  west  of 
her  present  limits  to  the  United  States. 
Among  the  conditions  exacted  by  her,  and 
agreed  to,  by  Congress,  (Act  approved  April 
2nd,  1790)  is  the  following: 

"Provided  al/vayx,  that  no  regulations  made,  or 
to  be  made,  by  Congress  shall  tend  to  emancipate 
slaves." 

Georgia,  ia  like  manner,  ceded  (April  2nd, 
1802)  the  territories  lying  west  of  her  pre 
sent  limits,  now  forming  the  States  of  Ala 
bama  and  Mississippi.  Among  the  con 
ditions  exacted  by  her,  and  accepted  by  the 
United  States,  is  the  following  : 

"  Fifthly.  That  the  territory  thus  ceded  shall  be 
come  a  State,  and  be  admitted  into  the  Union  as 
soon  as  it  shall  contain  sixty  thousand  free  inhabit 
ants,  or,  at  an  earlier  period,  if  Conga-ess  shall 
think  it  expedient,  on  the  same  conditions  and 
restrictions,  with  the  same  privileges,  and  in  the 
same  manner,  aa  is  provided  in  the  ordinance  ot 
Congress  of  the  13th  day  of  July,  1787,  for  the 
government  of  the  Western  territory  of  the  [Jmfr  d 
States  ;  which  ordinance  shall,  in  all  its  parts,  ox- 
tend  to  the  territory  contained  in  the  present  act 
of  Cession,  the  article  only  excepted  which  forbids 
slavery." 

V. 

EARLY   ATTEMPTS     TO     OVERRIDE    THE 
ORDINANCE. 

WHEN  Ohio  (1802-3)  was  made  a 
State,  the  residue  of  the  vast  regions, 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  SLAVERY  RESTRICTION. 


originally  conveyed  by  the  ordinance  of 
'87.  was  continued  under  Federal  pupilage, 
by  the  name  of  "  Indiana  Territory,"  whereof 
Wm.  Henry  Harrison  (since  President)  was 
appointed  Governor.  An  earnest  though 
quiet  effort  was  made  by  the  Virginia  ele 
ment,  which  the  location  of  her  military 
bounty  warrants  on  the  soil  of  Ohio  had  in 
fused 'into  that  embryo  State,  to  have 
Slavery  for  a  limited  term  authorized  in  her 
first  Constitution  ;  but  it  was  strenuously  re 
sisted  by  the  New  England  element,  which 
was  far  more  considerable,  and  defeated.  The 
Virginians  either  had  or  professed  to  have  the 
countenance  of  President  Jefferson,  though 
his  hostility  to  Slavery,  as  a  permanent  social 
state,  was  undoubted.  It  was  quite  commonly 
argued  that,  though  Slavery  was  injurious  in 
the  long  run,  yet,  as  an  expedient  while 
clearing  away  the  heavy  forests,  opening 
settlements  in  the  wilderness,  and  surmounting 
the  inevitable  hardships  and  privations  of 
border  life,  it  might  be  tolerated,  and  even 
regarded  with  favor.  Accordingly,  the  new 
Territory  of  Indiana  made  repeated  efforts  to 
procure  a  relaxation  in  her  favor  of  the  re 
strictive  clause  of  the  Ordinance  of  '87,  one  of 
them  through  the  instrumentality  of  a  Con 
vention  assembled  in  1802-3,  and  presided 
over  by  the  Territorial  Governor  ;  so  he, 
with  the  great  body  of  his  fellow-delegates, 
memorialized  Congress,  among  other  things, 
to  suspend  temporarily  the  operation  of  the 
sixth  article  of  the  Ordinance  aforesaid. 
This  memorial  was  referred  in  the  House  to 
a  select  committee  of  three,  two  of  them 
from  Slave  States,  with  the  since  celebrated 
John  Randolph  as  chairman.  On  the  2nd  of 
March,  1803,  Mr.  Randolph  made  what  ap 
pears  to  have  been  a  unanimous  report  from 
this  Committee,  of  which  we  give  so  much  as 
relates  to  Slavery — as  follows  : 

"  The  rapid  population  of  the  State  of  Ohio 
sufficiently  evinces,  in  the  opinion  of  your  com 
mittee,  that  the  labor  of  slaves  is  not  necessary 
to  promote  the  growth  and  settlement  of  colonies 
in  that  region.  That  this  labor — demonstrably 
the  dearest  of  any — can  only  be  employed  in  the 
cultivation  of  products  more  valuable  than  any 
known  to  that  quarter  of  the  United  States;  that 
the  Committee  deem  it  highly  dangerous  and  in 
expedient  to  impair  a  provision  wisely  calculated 
to  promote  the  happiness  and  prosperity  of  the 
northwestern  country,  nnd  to  give  strength  and 
security  to  that  extensive  frontier.  In  the  salutary 
operation  of  this  sagacious  and  benevolent  re 
straint,  it  is  believed  that  the  inhabitants  of  In 
diana  will,  at  no  very  distant  day,  find  ample  re 
numeration  for  a  temporary  privation  of  labor, 
and  of  emigration." 

The  Committee  proceed  to  discuss  other 
suHjects  set  forth  in  the  prayer  of  the  memo 
rial,  and  conclude  with  eight  resolves,  whereof 
the  only  one  relating  to  Slavery  is  as  fol 
lows  : 

"  Resolved,  That  it  is  inexpedient  to  suspend,  for 
a  limited  time,  the  operation  of  the  sixth  article  of 
the  compact  between  the  original  States  and  the 
people  and  States  west  of  the  river  Ohio." 


This  Report,  having  been  made  at  the  close 
of  the  Session,  was  referred  at  the  next  to  a 
new  Committee,  whereof  Caesar  Rodney,  a 
new  Representative  from  Delaware,  was 
Chairman.  Mr.  Rodney  from  this  Commit 
tee  reported  (February  17th,  1804), 

"  That,  taking  into  their  consideration  the  facts 
tated  in  the  said  memorial  and  petition,  they  are 
induced  to  believe  that  a  qualified  suspension,  for 
a  limited  time,  of  the  sixth  article  of  compact  be 
tween  the  original  States  and  the  people  and 
States  west  of  the  river  Ohio,  might  be  produc 
tive  of  benefit  and  advantage  to  said  Territory.', 

The  Report  goes  on  to  discuss  the  other 
topics  embraced  in  the  Indiana  memorial,  and 
concludes  with  eight  resolves,  of  which  the 
first  (and  only  one  relative  to  Slavery)  is  as 
follows  : 

•'Resolved,  That  the  sixth  article  of  the  Or 
dinance  of  1787,  which  prohibited  Slavery 
within  the  said  Territory,  be  suspended  in  a 
qualified  manner,  for  ten  years,  so  as  to  permit 
the  introduction  of  slaves,  born  within  the  United 
States,  from  any  of  the  individual  States ;  pro 
vided,  that  such  individual  State  does  not  permit 
the  importation  of  slaves  from  foreign  countries : 
and  provided,  further,  that  the  descendants  of 
all  such  slaves  shall,  if  males,  be  free  at  the  age 
of  twenty-five  years,  and,  if  females,  at  the  age 
of  twenty-one  years." 

The  House  took  no  action  on  this  Report. 

The  original  memorial  from  Indiana,  with 
several  additional  memorials  of  like  purport, 
was  again,  in  1805-6,  referred  by  the  House 
to  a  select  committee,  whereof  Mr.  Garnett 
of  Virginia  was  chairman,  who,  on  the  14th 
of  February,  1806,  made  a  report  in  favor  of 
the  prayer  of  the  petitioners — as  follows  : 

That,  having  attentively  considered  the  facts 
stated  in  the  said  petitions  and  memorials,  they 
are  of  opinion  that  a  qualified  suspension,  for  a 
limited  time,  of  the  sixth  article  of  compact  be 
tween  the  original  States,  and  the  people  and 
States  west  of  the  river  Ohio,  would  be  beneficial 
to  the  people  of  the  Indiana  Territory.  The  sus 
pension  of  this  article  is  an  object  almost  univer 
sally  desired  in  that  Territory. 

It  appears  to  your  committee  to  be  a  question 
entirely  different  from  that  between  Slavery  and 
Freedom  ;  inasmuch  as  it  would  merely  occasion 
the  removal  of  persons,  already  slaves,  from  one 
part  of  the  country  to  another.  The  good  effects 
of  this  suspension,  in  the  present  instance,  would 
be  to  accelerate  the  population  of  that  Territory, 
hitherto  retarded  by  the  operation  of  that  article 
of  compact,  as  slave-holders  emigrating  into  the 
Western  country  might  then  indulge  any  prefer 
ence  which  they  might  feel  for  a  settlement  in 
the  Indiana  Territory,  instead  of  seeking,  as  they 
are  now  compelled  to  TIo,  settlements  in  other 
States  or  countries  permitting  the  introduction  of 
slaves.  The  condition  of  the  slaves  themselves 
would  be  much  ameliorated  by  it,  as  it  is  evident, 
from  experience,  that  the  more  they  are  separated 
and  diffused,  the  more  care  and  attention  are  bo 
stowed  on  them  by  their  masters— each  proprietor 
having  it  in  his  power  to  increase  their  comforts 
and  conveniences,  in  proportion  to  the  smallness 
of  their  numbers.  The  dangers,  too,  (if  any  are 
to  be  apprehended)  from  too  large  a  black  popu 
lation  existing  in  any  one  section  of  country, 
would  certainly  be  very  much  diminished,  if  not 
entirely  removed.  But,  whether  dangers  are  to 
be  feared  from  this  source  or  not,  it  is  certainly  an 
obvious  dictate  of  sound  policy  to  guard  against 


EARLY  ATTEMPTS  TO  OVERRIDE  THE  ORDINANCE. 


them,  as  far  as  possible.  If  this  danger  does  ex 
ist,  or  there  is  any  cause  to  apprehend  it,  and  our 
Western  brethren  are  not  only  willing  but  desi 
rous  to  aid  us  in  taking  precautions  against  it. 
would  it  not  be  wise  to  accept  their  assistance  ? 

We  should  benefit  ourselves,  without  injuring 
them,  as  their  population  must  always  so  far  ex 
ceed  any  black  population  which  can  ever  exist  in 
that  country,  as  to  render  the  idea  of  danger  from 
that  source  chimerical. 

After  discussing  other  subjects  embodied 
in  the  Indiana  memorial,  the  committee  close 
with  a  series  of  Resolves,  which  they  com 
mend  to  the  adoption  of  the  House.  The 
first  and  only  one  germane  to  our  subject 
is  as  follows  : 

Resolved,  That  the  sixth  article  of  the  Ordi 
nance  of  1787,  which  prohibits  Slavery  within 
the  Indiana  Territory,  be  suspended  for  ten 
years,  so  as  to  permit  the  introduction  of  slaves, 
born  within  the  United  States,  from  any  of  the 
individual  States. 

This  report  and  resolve  were  committed 
and  made  a  special  order  on  the  Monday 
following,  but  were  never  taken  into  consid 
eration.0 

At  the  next  session,  a  fresh  letter  from 
Gov.  William  Henry  Harrison,  inclosing  re 
solves  of  the  Legislative  Council  and  House 
of  Representatives  in  favor  of  suspending,  for 
a  limited  period,  the  sixth  article  of  compact 
aforesaid,  was  received  (Jan.  21st,  1807)  and 
referred  to  a  Select  Committee,  whereof  Mr. 
B.  Parke,  delegate  from  said  Territory,  was 
made  chairman.  The  entire  Committee  (Mr. 
Nathaniel  Macon  of  N.  C.  being  now  Speak 
er)  consisted  of 
Messrs.  Alston  of  N.  C.  Rhea  of  Tenn. 

Masters  of  N.  Y.  Snndford  of  Ky. 

Morrow  of  Ohio.  Trigg  of  Va. 

Parke  of  Ind. 

Mr.  Parke,  from  this  Committee,  made 
(Feb.  12th,)  a  third  Report  to  the  House  in 
favor  of  granting  the  prayer  of  the  memo 
rialists.  It  is  as  follows  : 

"  The  resolutions  of  the  Legislative  Council 
and  House  of  Representatives  of  the  Indiana  Ter 
ritory,  relate  to  a  suspension,  for  the  term  of  ten 
years,  ot  the  sixth  article  of  compact  between  the 
United  States  and  the  Territories  and  States  north 
west  of  the  river  Ohio,  passed  the  13th  July,  1787. 
That  article  declares  that  there  shall  be  neither 
Slavery  nor  involuntary  servitude  in  the  said 
Territory. 

"  The  suspension  of  the  said  article  would  ope 
rate  an  immediate  and  essential  benefit  to  the  Ter 
ritory,  as  emigration  to  it  will  be  inconsiderable  for 
many  years,  except  from  those  States  where  Sla 
very  is  tolerated. 

"  And  although  it  is  not  considered  expedient  to 
force  the  population  of  the  Territory,  yet  it  is  de 
Birable  to  connect  its  scattered  settlements,  and,  in 
admitted  political  rights,  to  place  it  on  an  equa' 
footing  with  the  different  States.  From  the  inte 
rior  situation  of  the  Territory,  it  is  not  believec 
that  slaves  could  ever  become  so  numerous  as  to 
endanger  the  internal  peace  or  future  prosperity 
of  the  country.  The  current  of  emigration  flow 
ing  to  the  Western  country,  the  Territories  shoulc 
all  be  opened  to  their  introduction.  The  abstraci 
question  of  Liberty  and  Slavery  is  not  involved  in 
the  proposed  measure,  as  Slavery  now  exists  to  a 
considerable  extent  in  different  parts  of  the  Union 


t  would  not  augment  the  number  of  slaves,  but 
nerely  authorize  the  removal  to  Indiana  of  such 
is  are  held  in  bondage  in  the  United  States.  If 
Slavery  is  an  evil,  means  ought  to  be  devised  to 
•ender  it  least  dangerous  to  the  community,  and 
iy  which  the  hapless  situation  of  the  slaves  would 
)G  most  ameliorated ;  and  to  accomplish  these  ob 
jects,  no  measure  would  be  so  effectual  as  tho 
one  proposed.  The  Committee,  therefore,  re 
spectfully  submit  to  the  House  the  following  reso- 
ution : 

"  Resolved,  That  it  is  expedient  to  suspend, 
rom  and  after  the  1st  day  of  January,  1808,  tha 
sixth  article  of  compact  between  the  United  Statea 
and  the  Territories  and  States  northwest  of  the 
Ohio,  passed  the  13th  day  of  July,  1787,  for  the 
term  of  ten  years." 

This  report,  with  its  predecessors,  was 
committed,  and  made  a  special  order,  but 
never  taken  into  consideration. 


The  same  letter  of  Gen.  Harrison,  and  re 
solves  of  the  Indiana  Legislature,  were  sub 
mitted  to  the  Senate,  Jan.  21st,  1807.  They 
were  laid  on  the  table  "  for  consideration," 
and  do  not  appear  to  have  even  been  referred 
at  that  session  ;  but  at  the  next,  or  first  ses 
sion  of  the  fourth  Congress,  which  convened 
Oct.  26th,  1807,  the  President  (Nov.  7th) 
submitted  a  letter  from  Gen.  Harrison  and  his 
Legislature — whether  a  new  or  the  old  one 
does  not  appear — and  it  was  now  referred  to 
a  select  committee,  consisting  of  Messrs.  J. 
Franklin  of  N.  C.,'  Kitchel  of  N.  J.,  and 
Tiffin  of  Ohio. 

Nov.  13th,  Mr.  Franklin,  from  said  com 
mittee,  reported  as  follows  : 

"  The  Legislative  Council  and  House  of  Rep 
resentatives,  in  their  resolutions,  express  their 
sense  of  the  propriety  of  introducing  Slavery  into 
their  Territory,  and  solicit  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States  to  suspend,  for  a  given  number  of 
years,  the  sixth  article  of  compact,  in  the  ordi 
nance  for  the  government  of  the  Territory  north 
west  of  the  Ohio,  passed  the  13th  day  of  July, 
1787.  That  article  declares  :  '  There  shall  be  nei 
ther  Slavery  nor  involuntary  servitude  within  tho 
said  Territory.' 

"The  citizens  of  Clark  County,  in  their  remon 
strance,  express  their  sense  of  the  impropriety  of 
the  measure,  and  solicit  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States  not  to  act  on  the  subject,  so  as  to 
permit  the  introduction  of  slaves  into  the  Terri 
tory;  at.  least,  until  their  population  shall  entitle 
them  to  form  a  constitution  and  State  govern 
ment. 

"  Your  Committee,  after  duly  considering  the 
matter,  respectfully  submit  the  following  resolu 
tion: 

"  Resolved,  That  it  is  not  expedient  at  this  time 
to  suspend  the  sixth  article  of  compact  for  the 
government  of  the  Territory  of  the  United  States 
northwest  of  the  River  Ohio." 

And  here  ended,  so  far  as  we  have  been 
able  to  discover,  the  effort,  so -long  and  earn 
estly  persisted  in,  to  procure  a  suspension  of 
the  restriction  in  the  Ordinance  of  1787,  so  as 
to  admit  Slavery,  for  a  limited  term,  into  the 
Terrritory  lying  between  the  Ohio  and  Mis 
sissippi  rivers,  now  forming  the  States  of 
Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  Michigan,  and  Wis 
consin. 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR   SLAVERY   RESTRICTION. 


VI. 

THE    FIRST    MISSOURI    STRUGGLE. 

THE  vast  and  indefinite  territory  known 
as  Louisiana,  was  ceded  by  France  to  the 
United  flutes  in  the  year  1803,  for  the  sum  I 
of  £15. 000. 000,  of  which  $3,750,000  was  de 
voted  to  the  payment  of  American  claims  on 
Franco.  This  territory  had  just  before  been 
ceded  by  Spain  to  France  without  pecuniary 
consideration.  Slaveholding  had  long  been 
leiral  therein,  alike  under  Spanish  and  French 
rule,  and  the  Treaty  of  Cession  contained 
the  following  stipulation  : 

"  Art.  III.  The  inhabitants  of  the  ceded  terri 
tory  shall  be  incorporated  into  the  Union  of  the 
United  States,  and  admitted  as  soon  as  possible, 
according  to  the  principles  of  the  Federal  Consti 
tution,  to  the  enjoyment  of  all  the  rights,  advan 
tages  and  immunities  of  citizens  of  the  United 
States  ;  and  in  the  mean  time  they  shall  be  main 
tained  and  protected  in  the  free  enjoyment  of 
their  liberty,  property,  and  the  religion  which 
they  profess." 

The  State  of  Louisiana,  embodying  the 
southern  portion  of  this  acquired  territory, 
was  recognized  by  Congress  in  1811,  and 
fully  admitted  in  1812,  with  a  State  Consti 
tution.  Those  who  chose  to  dwell  among 
the  inhabitants  of  the  residue  of  the  Lou 
isiana  purchase,  henceforth  called  Missouri 
Territory,  continued  to  hold  slaves  in  its 
sparse  and  small,  but  increasing  settlements, 
mainly  in  its  southeastern  quarter,  and  a 
pro-slavery  court — perhaps  any  court — 
would  undoubtedly  have  pronounced  Sla 
very  legal  anywhere  on  its  vast  expanse, 
from  the  Mississippi  to  the  crests  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  if  not  beyond  them,  and 
from  the  Red  Iliver  of  Louisiana  to  the  Lake 
of  the  Woods. 

The  XVth  Congress  assembled  at  Wash 
ington,  on  Monday,  Dec.  1st,  1817.  Henry 
Clay  was  chosen  Speaker  of  the  House.  Mr. 
John  Scott  appeared  on  the  8th,  as  delegate 
from  Missouri  Territory,  and  was  admitted 
to  a  seat  as  such.  On  the  16th  of  March  fol 
lowing,  he  presented  petitions  of  sundry  in 
habitants  of  Missouri,  in  addition  to  similar 
petitions  already  presented  by  him,  praying  for 
the  admission  of  Missouri  into  the  Union  as 
a  State,  which  were,  on  motion,  referred  to  a 
Select  Committee,  consisting  of 

Messrs.  Scott  of  Mo.  Poindextcr  of  Miss.  Ro 
brrtsim  of  Ky.  Hendricks  of  Ind.  Livermore 
of  N.  II.  Mills  of  Mass.  Baldwin  of  Pa. 

April  3rd,  Mr.  Scott,  from  this  Commit 
tee,  reported  a  bill  to  authorize  the  IVnpIr 
of  Missouri  Territory  to  form  a  Constitution 
and  State  Government,  and  for  the  admission 
of  such  State  into  the  Union  on  an  equal 
footing  with  the  original  States  ;  which  bill 
was  re?wl  the  first  and  second  time,  and  sent 
to  the  Committee  of  the  Whole,  where  it 
slept  for  the  remainder  of  the  session. 

That   Congress  convened  at  Washington 


for  its  second  session,  on  the  16th  of  Novem 
ber,  1818.  Feb.  13th,  the  House  went  into 
Committee  of  the  Whole — Gen.  Smith,  of 
Md..  iii  the  chair — and  took  up  the  Missouri 
bill  aforesaid,  which  was  considered  through 
that  sitting,  as  also  that  of  the  15th,  when 
several  amendments  were  adopted,  the  most 
important  of  which  was  the  following,  moved 
in  Committee  by  Gen.  James  Tallmadge,  of 
Dutchess  County,  New  York,  (lately  de 
ceased  :) 

"  And  provided  also,  That  the  further  introduc 
tion  of  Slavery  or  involuntary  servitude  be  pro 
hibited,  except  for  the  punishment  of  crimes, 
whereof  the  party  shall  be  duly  convicted  :  and 
that  all  children  of  slaves,  born  within  the  said 
State,  after  the  admission  thereof  into  the  Union , 
shall  be  free,  but  may  be  held  to  service  until  the 
age  of  twenty-five  years," 

On  coming  out  of  Committee,  the  Yeas  and 
Nays  were  called  on  the  question  of  agreeing 
to  this  amendment,  which  was  sustained  by 
the  following  vote  :  [taken  first  on  agreeing 
to  so  much  of  it  as  precedes  and  includes  the 
word  "  convicted."] 

YEAS— For  the  Restriction  : 

NEW  HAMPSHIRE. — Clifton  Clagett,  Samuel 
Hale,  Arthur  Livermore,  Nathaniel  Uphmn— 4. 

MASSACHUSETTS— (then  including  Maine). — 
Benjamin  Adams,  Samuel  C.  Allen,  Walter  Fol- 
ger,  jr..  Timothy  Fuller,  Joshua  Gage,  Enoch 
Lincoln,  Elijah  H.  Mills,  Marcus  Morton,  Jere 
miah  Nelson,  Benjamin  Orr,  Thomas  Rice,  Na 
thaniel  Buggies,  Zabdiel  Sampson,  Nathaniel 
Silsbee,  John  Wilson— 15. 

-RHODE  ISLAND. — James  B.  Mason — 1. 

CONNECTICUT.— Sylvester  Gilbert,  Ebenezer 
Huutington,  Jonathan  O.  Moseley,  Timothy  Pit- 
kin,  Samuel  B.  Sherwood,  Nathaniel  Terry,  Tho 
mas  S  Williams — 7. 

VERMONT.— Samuel  C.  Crafts,  William  Hunter, 
Orsnmus  C.  Merrill,  Charles  Rich,  Mark  Rich 
ards — 5. 

NEW- YORK.— Oliver  C.  Comstock,  John  P. 
Cushman,  John  R.  Drake,  Benjamin  Ellicott  Jo- 
si  ah  Hasbrouck,  John  Herkimer,  Thomas  II. 
Hubbard,  William  Irving,  Dorrance  Kirtland, 
Thomas  Lawyer,  John  Palmer,  John  Savage, 
Philip  J.  Schuylcr,  John  C.  Spencer,  Treadwell 
Scadder,  James  Tallmadge,  JohnW.  Taylor,  Ca 
leb  Tompkins,  Geo.  Townsend,  Peter  H.  Weu- 
dover,  Rensselacr  Westerlo,  James  W.  Wilkin, 
I^iac  Williams — 23. 

NEW-JERSEY. — Ephraim  Bateman,  Benjamin 
Bennett,  Charles  Kinsey,  John  Linn,  Henry 
Southard— 5. 

PENNSYLVANIA.— William  Anderson.  Andrew 
Boden,  Isaac  Darlington,  Joseph  Heister,  Joseph 
Hopkinson,  Jacob  Hostctter,  William  Maclav, 
William  P.  Maclay,  David  Marchand,  Robert 
Moore,  Samuel  Moore,  John  Murray,  Alexander 
Ogle,  Thomas  Patterson,  Levi  Pawling,  Thomas 
J.  Rogers,  John  Sergeant,  James  M.  Wallace, 
John  Whiteside,  William  Wilson— '20. 

OHIO. — Levi  Barber,  Philemon  Beccher,  John 
W.  Campbell,  Samuel  Herrick,  Peter  Hitchcock 
— 5. 

INDIANA. — William  Hendricks 1. 

DELAWARE.— Willard  Hall— 1. 

Total  Yeas  87 — only  one  (the  last  named) 
from  a  Slave  State. 

NAYS— Against  the  Restriction: 

MASSACHUSETTS.  —John  Holmes,  Jonathan 
Mason,  Henry  Shaw— 3. 


THE  FIRST  MISSOURI  STRUGGLE. 


NEW-YORK.— Daniel  Cruder.  David  A.  Ogden 
Henry  R.  Storrs— 3. 

NEW-JERSEY. — Joseph  Bloomficld — 1, 

NEW-HAMPSHIRE. — John  F.  Pairott — 1. 

OHIO. — William  Henry  Harrison — 1. 

ILLINOIS. — John  McLean — 1.  [10  from  Free 
Stales.] 

DELAWARE. — Louis  McLnne — 1.  

M A RTL AND. —Archibald  Austin/JThomas  Bayly; 
Thomas  Ctilbreth,  Peter  Little,  George  Peter, 
Philip  Reed,  Samuel  Riuggold,  Samuel  Smith, 
Philip  Stuart— 9. 

VIRGINIA. — William  Lee  Ball,  Philip  P.  Bar 
hour,  Bin-well  Bassett,  William  A.  B unveil,  Ed 
ward  Colston,  Roberts.  Garnett,  James  Johnson, 
William  J.  Lewis,  William  McCoy,  Hugh  Nelson, 
Thomas  M.  Nelson,  John  Pegram,  James  Pindall. 
James  Pleasants,  Ballard  Smith.  Alexander 
Smyth,  Henry  St.  George  Tucker,  John  Tyler — 
18. 

NORTH  CAROLINA. — Joseph  H.  Bryan,  William 
Davidson,  Weldon  N.  Edwards,  Charles  Fisher, 
Thomas  H.  Hall,  James  Owen,  Lemuel  Sawyer, 
Thomas  Little,  Jesse  Slocumb,  James  G.  Smith, 
James  Stewart.  Felix  Walker,  Lewis  Williams — 
13. 

SOUTH  CAROLINA. — James  Ervin,  William 
Lowndes,  Henry  Middleton,  Wilson  Nesbitt,  El- 
bert  Simkins,  Sterling  Tucker — 6. 

GEORGIA. — Joel  Abbot,  Thomas  W.  Cobb,  Za- 
doe  Cook,  William  Terrell— 4. 

KENTUCKY. — Richard  C.  Anderson,  jr.,  Joseph 
Desha,  Richard  M.  Johnson,  Anthony  New, 
Thomas  Newton,  George  Robertson,  Thomas 
Speed,  David  Trimble,  David  Walker— 9. 

TENNESSEE. —  William     G.     Blount,    Francis 
Jones,  George  W.  L  Marr,  John  Rhea — 4. 
MISSISSIPPI. — George  Poindexter — 1. 
LOUISIANA.— Thomas  Butler — 1. 

Total  Nays,  76 — 10  from  Free  States,  66 
from  Slave  States. 

The  House  now  proceeded  to  vote  on  the 
residue  of  the  reported  amendment  [from  the 
word  "convicted"  above],  which  was  like 
wise  sustained. — Yeas  82  ;  Nays  78. 

Messrs.  Barber  and  Campbell  of  Ohio,  Linn  of 
N.  J.,  and  Mason  of  R.  I.,  who  on  the  former  divi 
sion  voted  Yea,  now  voted  Nay. 

Messrs.  Sehuyler  and  Westerlo  of  N.  Y.  (Yeas 
before)  did  not  vote  now.  Gen.  Smith  of  Md. 
changed  from  Nay  before  to  Yea  now. 

So  the  whole  amendment — as  moved  by 
Gen.  Tallmadge  in  Committee  of  the  Whole, 
and  there  carried — was  sustained  when  report 
ed  to  the  House. 

Mr.  Storrs  of  New- York  (opposed  to 
the  Restriction),  now  moved  the  striking  out  | 
of  so  much  of  the  bill  as  provides  that  the 
new  State  shall  be  admitted  into  the  Union 
"  on  an  equal  footing  with  the  original 
States" — which,  he  contended,  was  nullified 
by  the  votes  just  taken.  The  House  nega 
tived  the  motion. 

Messrs  Desha  of  Ky.,  Cobb  of  Ga.,  and 
Rhea  of  Tenu.,  declared  against  the  bill  as 
amended. 

Messrs.  Scott  of  Mo.,  and  Anderson  of 
Ky.,  preferred  the  bill  as  amended  to  none. 

The  House  ordered  the  bill,  as  amended, 
to  a^third  reading  ;  Yeas  98  ;  Nays  56.  The 
bUTtiras  passed  the  House  next  day.  and  was 
sent  to  the  Senate. 

The  following  sketch  of  the  debate  on  this  ; 


question  (Feb.  15th)  appears  in  the  Appen 
dix  to  Niles's  Register,  vol.  xvi. 

HOUSE    OF  REPRESENTATIVES,  FEB.  15,  1819. 

Mr.  Tallmadge,  of  New  York,  having 
moved  the  following  amendment,  on  the  Saturday 
preceding — 

"And provided  that  the  introduction  of  Slavery, 
or  involuntary  servitude,  be  prohibited,  except 
for  the  punishment  of  crimes,  whereof  the  party 
lias  been  duly  convicted,  and  that  all  children 
born  u-ithin  the  said  State,  after  the  admission 
thereof  into  the  Union,  shall  be  declared  free  at 
the  age  of '25  years." 

Mr.  FULLER,  of  Massachusetts,  said,  that 
in  the  admission  of  new  States  into  the  Union,  he 
considered  that  Congress  had  a  discretionary 
power.  By  the  4th  article  and  3d  section  of  the 
Constitution,  Congress  are  authorized  to  admit 
them  ;  but  nothing  in  that  section,  or  in  any  part 
of  the  Constitution,  enjoins  the  admission  as  im 
perative,  under  any  circumstances.  If  it  were 
otherwise,  he  would  request  gentlemen  to  point 
out  what  were  the  circumstances  or  conditions 
precedent,  which  being  found  to  exist,  Congress 
must  admit  the  new  State.  All  discretion  would, 
in  such  case,  be  taken  from  Congress,  Mr.  F.  said, 
and  deliberation  would  be  useless.  The  hon. 
speaker  (Mr.  Clay)  has  said  that  Congress  has  no 
right  to  prescribe  any  condition  whatever  to  the 
newly-organized  States,  but  must  admit  them  by  a 
simple  act,  leaving  their  sovereignty  unrestricted. 
[Here  the  speaker  explained— he  did  not  intend 
to  be  understood  in  so  broad  a  sense  as  Mr.  F. 
stated.]  With  the  explanation  of  the  honorable 
gentleman,  Mr.  F.  said,  I  still  think  his  ground  as 
untenable  as  before.  We  certainly  have  a  right, 
and  our  duty  to  the  nation  requires,  that  we  should 
examine  the  actual  state  of  things  in  tiie  proposed 
State;  and,  above  all,  the  Constitution  expressly 
makes  a  REPUBLICAN  form  of  government,  in  the 
several  States  a  fundamental  principle,  to  be  pre 
served  under  the  sacred  guarantee  of  the  national 
legislature.— [Art.  4,  sec.  4.]  It  clearly,  therefore, 
is  the  duty  of  Congress,  before  admitting  a  new 
sister  into  the  Union,  to  ascertain  that  her  consti 
tution  or  form  of  government  is  repu  blican.  Now, 
sir,  the  amendment  proposed  by  the  gentleman 
from  New  York,  Mr.  Tallmadge,  merely  requires 
that  Slavery  shall  be  prohibited  in  Missouri.  Does 
this  imply  anything  more  than  that  itg  constitu 
tion  shall  be  republican  ?  The  existence  of  Shivery 
in  any  State  is,  so  far,  a  departure  from  republi 
can  principles.  The  Declaration  of  Independence, 
penned  by  the  illustrious  statesman  then,  and  at 
this  time,  a  citizen  of  a  State  which  admits  Slave 
ry,  defines  the  principle  on  which  our  national 
and  state  constitutions  are  all  professedly  founded. 
The  second  paragraph  of  that  instrument  begins 
thus  :  "  We  hold  these  truths  to  be  self  evident — 
that  all  men  are  created  equal — that  they  are  en 
dowed  by  their  Creator  with  certain  un  alien  able 
rights;  that  among  these  are  life,  LIBERTY,  and 
the  pursuit  of  happiness."  Since,  then,  it  cannot 
be  denied  that  slaves  are  men,  it  follows  that  they 
are,  in  a  purely  republican  government,  born  free, 
and  are  entitled  to  liberty  and  the  pursuit  of  hap 
piness.  [Mr.  Fuller  was  here  interrupted  by  seve 
ral  gentlemen,  who  thought  it  improper  to  ques 
tion  in  debate  the  republican  character  of  the 
slave-holding  States,  which  had  also  a  tendency, 
as  one  gentleman  (Mr.  Colston,  of  Virginia)  said, 
to  deprive  those  States  of  the  right  to  hold  slaves 
as  property,  and  he  adverted  to  the  probability 
that  there  might  be  slaves  in  the  gallery,,  listening 
to  the  debate.]  Mr.  F.  assured  the  gentleman 
that  nothing  was  farther  from  his  thoughts,  than 
to  question  on  that  floor,  the  right  of  Virginia  and 
other  States,  which  held  slaves  when  the  Consti- 


10 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  SLAVERY  RESTRICTION. 


tution  was  established,  to  continue  to  hold  them. 
With  that  subject  the  National  Legislature  could 
not  interfere,  and  ought  not  to  attempt  it.  But, 
Mr.  F.  continued,  if  gentlemen  will  be  patient, 
they  will  see  that  my  remarks  will  neither  dero 
gate  from  the  constitutional  rights  of  the  States, 
nor  from  a  due  respect  to  their  several  forma  of 
government.  Sir,  it  is  my  wish  to  allay,  and  not 
to  excite  local  animosities,  but  I  shall  never  re 
frain  from  advancing  such  arguments  in  debate  as 
my  duly  requires,  nor  do  I  believe  that  the  read 
ing  of  our  Declaration  of  Independence,  or  a  dis 
cussion  of  republican  principles  on  any  occasion, 
can  endanger  the  rights,  or  merit  the  disapproba 
tion  of  any  porton  of  the  Union. 

My  reason,  Mr.  Chairman,  for  recurring  to  the 
Declaration  of  our  Independence,  was  to  draw 
from  an  authority  admitted  in  all  parts  of  the 
tlnion,  a  definition  of  the  basis  of  republican 
government.  If,  then,  all  men  have  equal  rights, 
it  can  no  more  comport  with  the  principles  of  a 
free  government  to  exclude  men  of  a  certain  color 
from  the  enjoyment  of  "  liberty  and  the  pursuit 
of  happiness,"  than  to  exclude  those  who  have 
not  attained  a  certain  portion  of  wealth,  or  a  cer 
tain  stature  of  body,  or  to  found  the  exclusion  on 
any  other  capricious  or  accidental  circumstance. 
Suppose  Missouri,  before  her  admission  as  a 
State,  were  to  submit  to  us  her  Constitution,  by 
which  no  person  could  elect,  or  be  elected  to  any 
office,  unless  he  possessed  a  clear  annual  income 
of  twenty  thousand  dollars  ;  and  suppose  we  had 
ascertained  that  only  Jive,  or  a  very  small  num 
ber  of  persons  had  such  an  estate,  would  this  be 
anything  more  or  less  than  a  real  aristocracy, 
under  a  form  nominally  republican  ?  Election 
and  representation,  which  some  contend  are  the 
only  essential  principles  of  republics,  would  exist 
only  in  name — a  shadow  without  substance,  a 
body  without  a  soul.  But  if  all  the  other  inhabit 
ants  were  to  be  made  slaves,  and  mere  property 
of  the  favored  few,  the  outrage  on  principle  would 
be  still  more  palpable.  Yet,  sir,  it  is  demonstra 
ble,  that  the  exclusion  of  the  black  population 
from  all  political  freedom,  and  making  them  the 
property  of  the  whites,  is  an  equally  palpable  in 
vasion  of  right,  and  abandonment  of  principle.  If 
we  do  this  in  the  admission  of  new  States,  we  vio 
late  the  Constitution,  and  we  have  not  now  the 
excuse  which  existed  when  our  National  Constitu 
tion  was  established.  Then,  to  effect  a  concert 
of  interests,  it  was  proper  to  make  concessions. 
The  States  where  Slavery  existed  not  only  claimed 
the  right  to  continue  it,  but  it  was  manifest  that  a 
general  emancipation  of  slaves  could  not  be  asked 
of  them.  Their  political  existence  would  have 
been  in  jeopardy ;  both  masters  and  slaves  must 
have  been  involved  in  the  most  fatal  conse 
quences. 

To  guard  against  such  intolerable  evils,  it  is 
provided  in  the  Constitution,  "  that  the  migration 
or  importation  of  such  persons,  as  any  of  the  ex 
isting  States  think  proper  to  admit,  shall  not  be 
prohibited  till  1808."— Art  1,  sec.  9.  And  it  is 
provided  elsewhere,  that  persons  held  to  service 
by  the  laws  of  any  State,  shall  be  given  up  by 
other  States,  to  which  they  may  have  escaped, 
etc. — Art.  4,  sec.  2. 

Th"se  provisions  effectually  recognized  the 
right  in  the  States,  which,  at  the  time  of  framing 
the '  Constitution,  held  the  blacks  in  Slavery,  to 
continue  so  to  hold  them  until  they  should  think 
proper  to  meliorate  their  condition.  The  Consti 
tution  is  a  compact  among  all  the  State*  then  ex 
isting,  by  which  certain  principles  of  government 
are  established  for  the  whole,  and  for  each  indi 
vidual  State.  The  predominant  principle  in  both 
respects  i.s,  that  AM.  MKN  are  FKKE,  and  have  an 
EQUAL  RIGHT  TO  LiiiKRTV,  and  all  other  privi 
leges;  or,  in  other  words,  the  predominant  princi 
ple  is  RJii-UBLiCArusM,  in  its  largest  sense.  But, 


then,  the  same  compact  contains  certain  excep 
tions.  The  States  then  holding  slaves  are  per 
mitted,  from  the  necessity  of  the  case,  and  for  the 
sake  of  union,  to  exclude  the  republican  principle 
so  far,  and  only  so  far,  as  to  retain  their  slaves  in 
servitude,  and  also  their  progeny,  as  had  been  the 
usage,  until  they  should  think  it  proper  or  safe  to 
conform  to  the  pure  principle,  by  abolishing  Sla 
very.  The  compact  contains  on  its  face  the 
general  principle  and  the  exceptions.  But  the 
attempt  to  extend  Slavery  to  the  new  States,  is  in 
direct  violation  of  the  clause,  which  guarantees 
a  republican  form  of  government  to  all  the  States. 
This  clause,  indeed,  must  be  construed  in  connec 
tion  with  the  exceptions  before  mentioned ;  but  it 
cannot,  without  violence,  be  applied  to  any  other 
States  than  those  in  which  Slavery  was  allowed 
at  the  formation  of  the  Constitution. 

The  honorable  speaker  cites  the  first  clause  in 
the  2d  section  of  the  4th  article — "  The  citizens  of 
each  State  shall  be  entitled  to  all  the  privileges 
and  immunities  of  citizens  of  the  several  States," 
which  he  thinks  would  be  violated  by  the  condi 
tion  proposed  in  the  Constitution  of  Missouri.  To 
keep  slaves — to  make  one  portion  of  the  popula 
tion  the  property  of  another,  hardly  deserves  to 
be  called  a  privilege,  since  what  is  gained  by  the 
masters  must  be  lost  by  the  slaves.  But,  inde 
pendently  of  this  consideration,  I  think  the  ob 
servations  already  offered  to  the  committee,  show 
ing  that  holding  the  black  population  in  servitude 
is  an  exception  to  the  general  principles  of  the 
Constitution,  and  cannot  be  allowed  to  extend  be 
yond  the  fair  import  of  the  terms  by  which  that 
exception  is  provided,  are  a  sufficient  answer  to 
the  objection.  The  gentleman  proceeds  in  the 
same  train  of  reasoning,  and  asks,  if  Congress  can 
require  one  condition,  how  many  more  can  be  re 
quired,  and  where  these  conditions  will  end  /  With 
regard  to  a  republican  constitution,  Congress  are 
obliged  to  require  that  condition,  and  that  is 
enough  for  the  present  question  ;  but  I  contend, 
further,  that  Congress  has  a  right,  at  their  discre 
tion,  to  require  any  other  reasonable  condition. 
Several  others  were  required  of  Ohio,  Indiana, 
Illinois  and  Mississippi.  The  State  of  Louisiana, 
which  was  a  part  of  the  territory  ceded  to  us  at 
the  same  time  with  Missouri,  was  required  to  pro 
vide  in  her  Constitution  for  trials  by  jury,  the  writ 
of  habeas  corpus,  the  principles  of  civil  and  reli 
gious  liberty,  with  several  others,  peculiar  to  that 
State.  These,  certainly,  are  none  of  them  more 
indispensable  ingredients  in  a  republican  form  of 
government  than  the  equality  of  privileges  of  all 
the  population  ;  yet  these  have  not  been  denied  to 
be  reasonable,  and  warranted  by  the  National 
Constitution  in  the  admission  of  new  States.  Nor 
need  gentlemen  apprehend  that  Congress  will  set 
no  reasonable  limits  to  the  conditions  of  admis 
sion.  In  the  exercise  of  their  constitutional  dis 
cretion  on  this  subject,  they  are,  as  in  all  other 
cases,  responsible  to  the  people.  Their  power  to 
levy  direct  taxes  is  not  limited  by  the  Constitu 
tion.  They  may  lay  a  tax  of  one  million  of  dollars, 
or  of  a  hundred  millions,  without  violating  the 
letter  of  the  Constitution  rbut  if  the  latter  enor 
mous  and  unreasonable  sum  were  levied,  or  even 
the  former,  without  evident  necessity,  the  people 
have  the  power  in  their  own  hands— a  speedy 
corrective  is  found  in  the  return  of  the  elections. 
This  remedy  is  so  certain,  that  the  representatives 
of  the  people  can  never  lose  sight  of  it ;  and,  con 
sequently,  an  abuse  of  their  powers  to  any  con 
siderable  extent  can  never  be  apprehended.  The 
same  reasoning  applies  to  the  exerci.se  of  all  the 
power*  entrusted  to  Congress,  and  the  admission 
of  new  States  into  the  Union  is  in  no  respect  an 
exception. 

One  gentleman,  however,  has  contended  against 
the  amendment,  because  it  abridges  the  rights  of 
the  elaveholding  States  to  transport  their  slaves 


THE  FIRST  MISSOURI  STRUGGLE. 


11 


to  the  new  States,  for  sale  or  otherwise.  This  ar 
gument  is  attempted  to  be  enforced  in  various 
ways,  and  particularly  by  the  clause  in  the  Con 
stitution  last  cited.  It  admits,  however,  of  a  very 
clear  answer,  by  recurring  to  the  9th  section  of 
article  1st,  which  provides  that  "  the  migration 
or  importation  of  such  persons  as  any  of  the  State* 
then  existing  shall  admit,  shall  not  be  prohibited 
by  Congress  till  1808."  This  clearly  implies,  that 
the  migration  and  importation  may  be  prohibited 
after  that  year.  The  importation  has  been  pro- 
liibited,  but  the  migration  has  not  hitherto  been  re- 
etrained  ;  Congress,  however,  may  restrain  it,wheu 
it  may  be  judged  expedient.  It  is,  indeed,  con 
tended  by  some  gentlemen,  that  migration  is  either 
synonymous  with  importation,  or  that  it  means 
something  different  from  the  transportation  of 
slaves  from  one  State  to  another.  It  certainly  is 
not  synonymous  with  importation,  and  would  not 
have  been  used  if  it  had  been  so.  It  cannot  mean 
exportation,  which  is  also  a  definite  and  precise 
term.  It  cannot  mean  the  reception  of  free  blacks 
from  foreign  countries,  as  is  alleged  by  some,  be 
cause  no  possible  reason  existed  for  regulating 
their  admission  by  the  Constitution ;  no  free 
blacks  ever  came  from  Africa,  or  any  other  coun 
try,  to  this ;  and  to  introduce  the  provision  by  the 
side  of  that  for  the  importation  of  slaves,  would 
have  been  absurd  in  the  highest  degree.  What 
alternative  remains  but  to  apply  the  term  "  migra 
tion"  to  the  transportation  of  slaves  from  those 
States,  where  they  are  admitted  to  be  held,  to 
other  States.  Such  a  provision  might  have  in 
view  a  very  natural  object.  The  price  of  slaves 
might  be  aft'ected  so  far  by  a  sudden  prohibition 
to  transport  slaves  from  State  to  State,  that  it  was 
as  reasonable  to  guard  against  that  inconvenience 
as  against  the  sudden  interdiction  of  the  importa 
tion.  Hitherto  it  has  not  been  found  necessary 
for  Congress  to  prohibit  migration  or  transport 
ation  from  State  to  State.  But  now  it  becomes  the 
right  and  duty  of  Congress  to  guard  against  the 
further  extension  of  the  intolerable  evil  and  the 
crying  enormity  of  Slavery. 

The  expediency  of  this  measure  is  very  appa 
rent.  The  opening  of  an  extensive  slave  market 
Avill  tempt  the  cupidity  of  those  who,  otherwise, 
perhaps,  might  gradually  emancipate  their  slaves. 
We  have  heard  much,  Mr.  Chairman,  of  the  Colo 
nization  Society  ;  an  institution  which  is  the  fa 
vorite  of  the  humane  gentlemen  in  the  slavehold- 
ing  States.  They  have  long  been  lamenting  the 
miseries  of  Slavery,  and  earnestly  seeking  for  a 
remedy  compatible  with  their  own  safety,  and  the 
happiness  of  their  slaves.  At  last  the  great  deside 
ratum  is  found — a  colony  in  Africa  for  the  eman 
cipated  blacks.  How  will  the  generous  intentions 
of  these  humane  persons  be  frustrated,  if  the  price 
of  slaves  is  to  be  doubled  by  a  new  and  boundless 
market!  Instead  of  emancipation  of  the  slaves, 
it  is  much  to  be  feared,  that  unprincipled  wretches 
will  be  found  kidnapping  those  who  are  already 
free,  and  transporting  and  selling  the  hapless  vic 
tims  into  hopeless  bondage.  Sir,  I  really  hope 
that  Congress  will  not  contribute  to  discounte 
nance  and  render  abortive  the  generous  and  phi 
lanthropic  views  of  this  most  worthy  and  laudable 
society.  Rather  let  us  hope,  that  the  time  is  not 
very  remote,  when  the  shores  of  Africa,  which 
have  so  long  been  a  scene  of  barbarous  rapacity 
and  savage  cruelty,  shall  exhibit  a  race  of  free 
and  enlightened  people — the  offspring,  indeed,  of 
cannibals  or  of  slaves;  but  displaying  the  virtues 
of  civilization  and  the  energies  of  independent 
freemen.  America  may  then  hope  to  see  the  de- 
yelopement  of  a  germ,  now  scarcely  visible,  cher 
ished  and  matured  under  the  genial  warmth  of 
pur  country's  protection,  till  the  fruit  shall  appear 
in  the  regeneration  and  happiness  of  a  boundless 
continent. 

One  argument  still  remains  to  be  noticed.    It  is 


said,  that  we  are  bound,  by  the  treaty  of  cession 
with  France,  to  admit  the  ceded  territory  into  the 
Union,  "  as  soon  as  possible."  It  is  obvious 
that  the  President  and  Senate,  the  treaty-making 
power,  cannot  make  a  stipulation  with  any  for 
eign  nation  in  derogation  of  the  constitutional 
powers  and  duties  of  this  House,  by  making  it 
imperative  on  us  to  admit  the  new  territory  ac 
cording  to  the  literal  tenor  of  the  phrase  ;  but  the 
additional  words  in  the  treaty,  "  according  to  the 
principles  of  the  Constitution,"  put  it  beyond  all 
doubt  that  no  such  compulsory  admission  was 
intended,  and  that  the  republican  principles  of  our 
Constitution  are  to  govern  us  in  the  admission  of 
this,  as  well  as  all  the  new  States,  in  the  national 
family. 

Mr.  TALLMADGE,  of  New  York,  rose — 

Sir,  said  he,  it  has  been  my  desire  and  my  inten 
tion  to  avoid  any  debate  on  the  present  painful 
and  unpleasant  subject.  When  I  had  the  honor 
to  submit  to  this  House  the  amendment  now  under 
consideration,  I  accompanied  it  with  a  declara 
tion  that  it  was  intended  to  confine  its  operation 
to  the  newly  acquired  territory  across  the  Missis 
sippi  ;  and  I  then  expressly  declared,  that  I  would 
in  no  manner  intermeddle  with  the  slaveholding 
States,  nor  attempt  manumission  in  any  one  of  the 
original  States  in  the  Union.  Sir,  I  even  went 
further,  and  stated  that  I  was  aware  of  the  deli 
cacy  of  the  subject — and,  that  I  had  learned  from 
southern  gentlemen  the  difficulties  and  the  dan 
gers  of  having  free  blacks  intermingling  with 
slaves  ;  and,  on  that  account,  and  with  a  view  to 
the  safety  of  the  white  population  of  the  adjoining 
States,  I  would  not  even  advocate  the  prohibition 
of  Slavery  in  the  Alabama  territory;  because, 
surrounded  as  it  was  by  slaveholding  States,  and 
with  only  imaginary  lines  of  division,  the  inter 
course  between  slaves  and  free  blacks  could  not 
be  prevented,  and  a  servile  war  might  be  the  re 
sult.  While  we  deprecate  and  mourn  over  the 
evil  of  Slavery,  humanity  and  good  morals  require 
us  to  wish  its  abolition,  under  circumstances  con 
sistent  with  the  safety  of  the  white  population. 
Willingly,  therefore,  will  I  submit  to  an  evil 
which  we  cannot  safely  remedy.  I  admitted  all 
that  had  been  said  of  the  danger  of  having  free 
blacks  visible  to  slaves,  and,  therefore,  did  not 
hesitate  to  pledge  myself  that  I  would  neither  ad 
vise  nor  attempt  coercive  manumission.  But,  sir, 
all  these  reasons  cease  when  we  cross  the  banks 
of  the  Mississippi,  into  a  territory  separated  by  a 
natural  boundary — a  newly  acquired  territory, 
never  contemplated  in  the  formation  of  our  gov 
ernment,  not  included  within  the  compromise  or 
mutual  pledge  in  the  adoption  of  our  Constitu 
tion — a  new  territory  acquired  by  our  common 
fund,  and  ought  justly  to  be  subject  to  our  com 
mon  legislation. 

Sir,  when  I  submitted  the  amendment  now 
under  consideration,  accompanied  with  these 
explanations,  and  with  these  avowals  of  my  in 
tentions  and  of  my  motives — I  did  expect  that 
gentlemen  who  might  differ  from  me  in  opinion 
would  appreciate  the  liberality  of  my  views,  and 
would  meet  me  with  moderation,  as  upon  a  fair 
subject  for  general  legislation.  I  did  expect,  at 
least,  that  the  frank  declaration  of  my  views 
would  protect  me  from  harsh  expressions,  and 
from  the  unfriendly  imputations  wuich  have  been 
cast  out  on  this  occasion.  But,  sir,  such  has 
been  the  character  and  the  violence  of  this  de 
bate,  and  expressions  of  so  much  intemperance, 
and  of  an  aspect  so  threatening  have  been  used, 
that  continued  silence  on  my  part  would  ill  be 
come  me,  who  had  submitted  to  this  house  the 
original  proposition.  While  this  subject  was 
under  debute  before  the  Committee  of  the  whole, 
I  did  not  take  the  floor,  and  I  avail  myself  of 
this  occasion  to  acknowledge  my  obligations  to 


12 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  SLAVERY  RESTRICTION. 


my  friends  (Mr.  Taylor  and  Mr.  Mills)  for  the 
manner  iu  which  they  supported  my  amendment, 
at  a  time  when  I  was  unable  to  partake  in  the 
debate.  I  had  only  on  that  day  returned  from  a 
journey,  long  in  its  extent  and  painful  in  its  oc 
casion  ;  and  "from  an  affection  of  my  breast  I 
could  not  then  speak.  I  cannot  yet  hope  to  do 
justice  to  the  subject ;  but  I  do  hope  to  say 
enough  to  assure  my  friends  that  I  have  not  left 
them  in  the  controversy,  and  to  convince  the 
opponents  of  the  measure,  that  their  violence  has 
Dot  driven  me  from  the  debate. 

Sir,  the  hon.  gentleman  from  Missouri  (Mr. 
Scott,  who  has  just  resumed  his  seat,  has  told  us  of 
the  ides  of  March,  and  has  cautioned  us  to  "  be 
ware  of  the  fate  of  Caesar  and  of  Rome."  Another 
gentleman  (Mr.  Cobb)  from  Georgia,  in  addition 
to  other  expressions  of  great  warmth,  has  said, 
that  if  we  persist,  the  Union  will  be  dissolved;  and 
with  a  look  fixed  on  me,  has  told  us,  "  we  have 
kindled  a  fire  which  all  the  waters  of  the  ocean 
cannot  put  out,  which  seas  of  blood  can  only  ex 
tinguish." 

Language  of  this  sort  has  no  effect  on  me  ;  my 
purpose  is  fixed,  it  is  interwoven  with  my  ex 
istence  ;  its  durability  is  limited  with  my  life ;  it 
is  a  great  and  glorious  cause,  setting  bounds  to  a 
slavery  the  most  cruel  and  debasing  the  world 
has  ever  witnessed  ;  it  is  the  freedom  of  man ;  it 
is  the  cause  of  unredeemed  and  unregeiierated 
human  beings. 

If  a  dissolution  of  the  Union  must  take  place, 
let  it  be  so !  If  civil  war,  which  gentlemen  so 
much  threaten,  must  come,  I  can  only  say,  let  it 
come !  My  hold  on  life  is  probably  as  frail  as 
that  of  any  man  who  now  hears  me  ;  but  while 
that  hold  lasts,  it  shall  be  devoted  to  the  service 
of  my  country — to  the  freedom  of  man.  If  blood 
is  necessary  to  extinguish  any  fire  which  I  have 
assisted  to  kindle,  I  can  assure  gentlemen,  while 
I  regret  the  necessity,  I  shall  not  forbear  to  con 
tribute  my  mite.  Sir,  the  violence  to  which  gen 
tlemen  have  resorted  on  this  subject  will  not 
move  my  purpose,  nor  drive  me  from  my  place. 
I  have  the  fortune  and  the  honor  to  stand  here  as 
the  representative  of  freemen,  who  possess  in 
telligence  to  know  their  rights;  who  have  the 
spirit  to  maintain  them.  Whatever  might  be  my 
own  private  sentiments  on  this  subject,  standing 
here  as  the  representative  of  others,  no  choice  is 
left  me.  1  know  the  will  of  my  constituents,  and, 
regardless  of  consequences,  I  will  avow  it — as 
their  representative,  I  will  proclaim  their  hatred 
to  Slavery  in  every  shape— as  their  representative 
here  will  I  hold  my  stand,  till  this  tloor,  with  the 
Constitution  of  my  country  which  supports  it, 
shall  sink  beneath  me — if  I  am  doomed  to  fall,  I 
shall,  at  least,  have  the  painful  consolation  to  be 
lieve  that  I  fall,  as  a  fragment,  in  the  ruins  of  my 
country. 

Sir,  the  gentleman  from  Virginia  (Mr.  Colston) 
has  accused  iny  honorable  friend  from  New 
Hampshire  (Mr.  Livermore)  of  "speaking  to  the 
galleries, "  and  by  his  "  language  endeavoring  to 
excite  a  servile  war;"  and  has  ended  by  saying, 
"he  is  no  better  than  Arbuthnot  and  Ambrister, 
and  deserves  no  better  fate/'  When  I  hear  such 
language  uttered  upon  this  floor,  and  within  this 
hoiH(;,  I  am  constrained  to  consider  it  as  hasty 
and  unintended  language,  resulting  from  the 
vehemence  of  debate,  und  not  really  intending  the 
:al  indecorum  the  expressions  would  seem 
io  indicate.  [Mr.  Colston  asked  to  explain,  and 
Kiiid  IHJ  had  not  distinctly  understood  Mr.  T. 
Mr.  Livermore  called  on  Mr.  C.  u>  stale  the  ex- 
•MS  he  had  used.  Mr.  C.  then  said  he  had 
no  explanation  to  give.]  Mr.  T.  said  he  had  none 
to  ask— he  continued  to  say,  he  would  not  be 
lieve  any  gentleman  on  this  floor  would  commit 
BO  great  an  indecorum  against  any  member,  or 
against  the  dignity  of  this  house,  as  to  use  buch 


expressions,  really  intending  the  meaning  which 
the  words  seem  to  import,  and  which  had  been 
uttered  against  the  gentleman  from  New  Hamp 
shire.  [Mr.  Nelson,  of  Virginia,  in  the  Chair, 
called  to  order,  and  said  no  personal  remarks 
would  be  allowed.]  Mr.  T.  said  he  rejoiced  the 
Chair  was  at  length  aroused  to  a  sense  of  its 
duties.  The  debate  had,  for  several  days,  pro 
gressed  with  unequuled.  violence,  and  all  was  in 
order  ;  but  now,  when  at  length  this  violence  on 
one  side  is  to  be  resisted,  the  Chair  discovered  it 
is  out  of  order.  I  rejoice,  said  Mr.  T.,  at  the  dis 
covery,  I  approve  of  the  admonition,  while  I  am 
proud  to  say  it  has  no  relevancy  to  me.  It  is 
my  boast  that  I  have  never  uttered  au  unfriendly 
personal  remark  on  this  floor ;  but  I  wish  it  dis 
tinctly  understood,  that  the  immutable  laws  of 
self-defense  will  justify  going  to  great  lengths, 
and  that,  in  the  future  progress  of  this  debate, 
the  rights  of  defense  would  be  regarded. 

Sir,  has  it  already  come  to  this:  that  in  the 
Congress  of  the  United  States — that,  in  the  legis 
lative  councils  of  republican  America,  the  subject 
of  Slavery  has  become  a  subject  of  so  much 
feeling — of  such  delicacy — of  such  danger,  that  it 
cannot  safely  be  discussed  ?  Are  members  who 
venture  to  express  their  sentiments  on  this  sub 
ject,  to  be  accused  of  talking  to  the  galleries, 
with  intention  to  excite  a  servile  war ;  and  of 
meriting  the  fate  of  Arbuthnot  and  Ambrister  ? 
Are  we  to  be  told  of  the  dissolution  of  the  Union, 
of  civil  war.  and  of  seas  of  blood  1  And  yet, 
with  such  awful  threatenings  before  us,  do  gen 
tlemen,  in  the  same  breath,  insist  upon  the  en 
couragement  of  this  evil ;  upon  the  extension  of 
this  monstrous  scourge  of  the  human  race  ?  An 
evil  so  fraught  with  such  dire  calamities  to  us 
as  individuals,  and  to  our  nation,  and  threaten 
ing,  in  its  progress,  to  overwhelm  the  civil  and 
religious  institutions  of  the  country,  with  the 
liberties  of  the  nation,  ought  at  once  to  be  met, 
and  to  be  controlled.  If  its  power,  its  influence, 
and  its  impending  dangers,  have  already  arrived 
at  such  a  point,  that  it  is  not  safe  to  discuss  it  on 
this  floor,  and  it  cannot  now  pass  under  considera 
tion  as  a  proper  subject  for  general  legislation, 
what  will  be  the  result  when  it  is  spread' through 
your  widely-extended  domain  ?  Its  present 
threatening  aspect,  and  the  violence  of  its  sup 
porters,  so  far  from  inducing  me  to  yield  to  its 
progress,  prompt  me  to  resist  its  march.  Now  is 
the  time.  It  must  now  be  met,  and  the  extension 
of  the  evil  must  now  be  prevented,  or  the  occa 
sion  is  irrecoverably  lost,  and  the  evil  can  never 
be  controlled. 

Sir,  extend  your  view  across  the  Mississippi, 
over  your  newly-acquired  territory — a  territory 
so  far  surpassing,  in  extent,  the  limits  of  your 

E resent  country,  that  that  country  ivhich  gave 
irth  to  your  nation — which  achieved  your  Revo 
lution — consolidated  your  Union — formed  your 
Constitution,  and  has  subsequently  acquired  so 
much  glory,  hangs  but  as  an  appendage  to  the 
extended  empire  over  which  your  republican 
government  is  now  called  to  bear  sway.  Look 
down  the  long  vista  of-  futurity  ;  see  your 
empire,  in  extent  unequaled,  in  advantageous 
situation  without  a  parallel,  and  occupying  all  the 
valuable  part  of  one  continent.  Behold  this  ex 
tended  empire,  inhabited  by  the  hardy  sons  of 
American  freemen,  knowing  their  rights,  and  in 
heriting  the  will  to  protect  them — owners  of  the 
soil  on  whic-h  they  live,  and  interested  in  the  in 
stitutions  which  they  labor  to  defend ;  with  two 
oceans  laving  your  shoz-es,  and  tributary  to  your 
purposes  bearing  on  their  bosoms  the  commerce 
of  our  people;  compared  to  yours,  the  govern 
ments  of  Europe  dwindle  into  insignificance,  and 
t lie  whole  world  is  without  a  parallel.  But,  sir, 
re\erse  this  scene;  people  this  fair  domain  with 
the  slaves  of  your  planters  ;  extend  Slavery,  this 


THE  FIRST  MISSOURI  STRUGGLE. 


13 


bane  of  man,  this  abomination  of  heaven,  over 
your  extended  empire,  and  you  prepare  its  dissolu 
tion  ;  you  turn  its  accumulated  strength  into 
positive  weakness ;  you  cherish  a  canker  in  your 
breast ;  you  put  poison  in  your  bosom  ;  you  place 
a  vulture  preying  on  your  heart — nay,  you  Avhet 
the  dagger  and  place  it  in  the  hands  of  a  portion 
of  your  population,  stimulated  to  use  it,  by  every 
tie,  human  and  divine.  The  envious  contrast 
between  your  happiness  and  their  misery,  be 
tween  your  liberty  and  their  slavery,  must  con 
stantly  prompt  them  to  accomplish  your  destruc 
tion.  Tour  enemies  will  learn  the  source  and 
the  cause  of  your  weakness.  As  often  as  external 
dangers  shall  threaten,  or  internal  commotions 
await  you,  you  will  then  realize,  that  by  your  own 
procurement,  you  have  placed  amidst  your 
families,  and  in  the  bosom  of  your  country,  a 
population  producing  at  once  the  greatest  cause 
of  individual  danger,  and  of  national  weakness. 
With  this  defect,  your  government  must  crumble 
to  pieces,  and  your  people  become  the  scoff  of 
the  world. 

Sir,  we  have  been  told,  with  apparent  confi 
dence,  that  we  have  no  right  to  annex  conditions 
to  a  State,  on  its  admission  into  the  Union  ;  and 
it  has  been  urged  that  the  proposed  amendment, 
prohibiting  the  farther  introduction  of  Slavery,  is 
unconstitutional.  This  position,  asserted  with 
BO  much  confidence,  remains  unsupported  by  any 
argument,  or  by  any  authority  derived  from  the 
Constitution  itself.  The  Constitution  strongly  in 
dicates  an  opposite  conclusion,  and  seems  to  con 
template  a  difference  between  the  old  and  the 
new  States.  The  practice  of  the  government 
has  sanctioned  this  difference  in  many  respects. 

The  third  section  of  the  fourth  article  of  the 
Constitution  says,  "  new  States  may  be  admitted 
by  the  Congress  into  this  Union,"  and  it  is  silent 
as  to  the  terms  and  conditions  upon  which  the 
new  States  may  be  so  admitted.  The  fair  infer 
ence  from  this  is,  that  the  Congress  which  might 
admit,  should  prescribe  the  time  and  the  terms 
of  such  admission.  The  tenth  section  of  the  first 
article  of  the  Constitution  says,  "  the  migration 
or  importation  of  such  persons  as  any  of  the 
States  NOW  EXISTING  shall  think  proper  to  ad 
mit,  shall  not  be  prohibited  by  the  Congress  prior 
to  the  year  1808."  The  words  "  now  existing" 
clearly  show  the  distinction  for  which  we  con 
tend.  The  word  slave  is  nowhere  mentioned  in 
the  Constitution ;  but  this  section  has  always 
been  _  considered  as  applicable  to  them,  and  un 
questionably  reserved  the  right  to  prevent  their 
importation  into  any  new  State  before  the  year 
1808. 

Congress,  therefore,  have  power  over  the 
subject,  probably  as  a  matter  of  legislation,  but 
more  certainly  as  a  right,  to  prescribe  the  time 
and  the  condition  upon  which  any  new  State 
may  bo  admitted  into  the  family  of  the  Union. 
Sir,  the  bill  now  before  us  proves  the  correctness 
of  my  argument.  It  is  filled  with  conditions  and 
limitations.  The  territory  is  required  to  take  a 
census,  and  is  to  be  admitted  only  on  condition 
that  it  have  40,000  inhabitants.  I  have  already 
submitted  amendments  preventing  the  State  from 
taxing  the  lands  of  the  United  States,  and  declar 
ing  that  all  navigable  waters  shall  remain  open 
to  the  other  States,  and  be  exempt  from  any  tolls 
or  duties.  And  my  friend  (Mr.  Taylor)  has  also 
submitted  amendments  prohibiting  the  State 
from  taxing  soldiers'  lands  for  the  period  of  five 
years.  And  to  all  these  amendments  we  have 
heard  no  objection — they  have  passed  unani 
mously.  But  now,  when  an  amendment,  pro 
hibiting  the  further  introduction  of  Slavery  is 
proposed,  the  whole  house  is  put  in  agitation. 
and  we  are  confidently  told  it  is  unconstitutional 
to  annex  conditions  to  the  admission  of  a  new 
State  into  the  Union.  The  result  of  all  this  is, 


:  that  all  amendments  and  conditions  are  proper, 
I  which  suit  a  certain  class  of  gentlemen,  but  what- 
|  ever  amendment  is  proposed,  which  does  not 
comport  with  their  interests  or  their  views,  is  un 
constitutional,  and  a  flagrant  violation  of  this 
sacred  charter  of  our  rights.  In  order  to  be  con 
sistent,  gentlemen  must  go  back  and  strike  out 
the  various  amendments  to  which  they  have 
already  agreed.  The  Constitution  applies  equally 
to  all,  or  to  none. 

Sir,  we  have  been  told  that  this  is  a  new  prin 
ciple  for  which  we  contend,  never  before  adopted, 
or  thought  of.  So  far  from  this  being  correct,  it 
is  due  to  the  memory  of  our  ancestors  to  say,  it 
is  an  old  principle,  adopted  by  them,  as  the 
policy  of  our  country.  Whenever  the  United 
States  have  had  the  right  and  the  power,  they 
have  heretofore  prevented  the  extension  of 
Slavery.  The  States  of  Kentucky  and  Tennessee 
were  taken  off  from  other  States,  and  were  ad 
mitted  into  the  Union  without  condition,  because 
their  lands  were  never  owned  by  the  United 
States.  The  Territory  northwest  of  the  Ohio  is  all 
the  land  which  ever  belonged  to  them.  Shortly 
after  the  cession  of  those  lands  to  the  Union, 
Congress  passed,  in  1787,  a  compact,  which  was 
declared  to  be  unalterable,  the  sixth  article  of 
which  provides  that  "  there  shall  be  neither 
Slavery  nor  involuntary  servitude  in  the  said 
Territory,  otherwise  than  in  the  punishment  for 
crimes,  whereof  the  parties  shall  have  been  duly 
convicted,"  In  pursuance  of  this  compact,  all 
the  States  formed  from  that  Territory  have  been 
admitted  into  the  Union  upon  various  conditions, 
and,  amongst  which,  the  sixth  article  of  this 
compact  is  included  as  one. 

Let  gentlemen  also  advert  to  the  law  for  the 
admission  of  the  State  of  Louisiana  into  the 
Union :  they  will  find  it  filled  with  conditions.  It 
was  required  not  only  to  form  a  Constitution  upon 
the  principles  of  a  republican  government,  but 
it  was  required  to  contain  the  il  fundamental  prin 
ciples  of  civil  and  religious  liberty.''  It  was  even 
required  as  a  condition  of  its  admission,  to  keep 
its  records,  and  its  judicial  and  its  legislative 
procedings  in  the  English  language  ;  and  also  to 
secure  the  trial  by  jury,  and  to  surrender  all 
claim  to  unappropriated  lands  in  the  Territory, 
with  the  prohibition  to  tax  any  of  the  United 
States'  lands. 

After  this  long  practice  and  constant  usage  to 
annex  conditions  to  the  admission  of  a  State  into 
the  Union,  will  gentlemen  yet  tell  us  it  is  uncon 
stitutional,  and  talk  of  our  principles  being  novel 
and  extraordinary  ?  It  has  been  said,  that,  if  this 
amendment  prevails,  we  shall  have  an  union  of 
States  possessing  unequal  rights.  And  we  have 
been  asked,  whether  we  wished  to  see  such  a 
"  chequered  union  ?"  Sir,  we  have  such  a  union 
already.  If  the  prohibition  of  Slavery  is  the  de 
nial  of  a  right,  and  constitutes  a  chequered  union, 
gladly  would  I  behold  such  rights  denied,  and 
such  a  chequer  spread  over  every  State  in  the 
Union.  It  is  now  spread  over  the  States  north- 
Avest  of  the  Ohio,  and  forms  the  glory  and  the 
strength  of  those  States.  I  hope  it  will  be  ex 
tended  from  the  Mississippi  to  the  Pacific  Ocean. 

Sir,  we  have  been  told  that  the  proposed 
amendment  cannot  be  received,  because  it  is 
contrary  to  the  treaty  and  cession  of  Louisiana. 
"  Article  3.  The  inhabitants  of  the  ceded  terri 
tory  shall  be  incorporated  in  the  Union  of  the 
United  States,  and  admitted  as  soon  as  possible, 
according  to  the  principles  of  the  Federal  Con 
stitution,  to  the  enjoyment  of  all  the  rights  ad 
vantages,  and  immunities  of  citizens  of  the 
United  States,  and  in  the  mean  time  they  shall 
be  maintained  and  protected  in  the  free  enjoy 
ment  of  their  liberty,  their  property,  and  the  re 
ligion  which  they  profess."  I  find  nothing,  said 
Mr.  T.,  in  this  article  of  the  treaty,  incompatible 


14 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  SLAVERY   RESTRICTION. 


with  the  proposed  amendment.  The  rights,  ad 
vantages,  and  immunities  of  citizens  of  the 
United  States  are  guaranteed  to  the  inhabitant 
of  Louisiana.  If  one  of  them  should  choose  to 
remove  into  Virginia,  he  could  take  his  slaves 
with  him ;  but  if  he  removes  to  Indiana,  or  any 
of  the  States  northwest  of  the  Ohio,  he  canuol 
take  his  slaves  with  him.  If  the  proposed 
amendment  prevail,  the  inhabitants  of  Lou 
isiana,  or  the  citizens  of  the  United  States,  can 
neither  of  them  take  slaves  into  the  State  ot 
Missouri.  All,  therefore,  may  enjoy  equal  privi 
leges.  It  is  a  disability,  or  what  1  call  a  blessing 
annexed  to  the  particular  district  of  country, 
and  in  no  manner  attached  to  the  individual 
But,  while  I  have  no  doubt  that  the  treaty  con 
tains  no  solid  objection  against  the  proposed 
amendment,  if  it  did,  it  would  not  alter  my  de 
termination  on  the  subject.  The  Senate,  or  the 
treaty-making  power  of  our  government,  have 
neither  the  right,  nor  the  power  to  stipulate  by  a 
treaty,  the  terms  upon  which  a  people  shall  be 
admitted  into  the  Union.  This  House  have  a 
right  to  be  heard  on  the  subject.  The  admission 
of  a  State  into  the  Union  is  a  Legislative  act, 
which  requires  the  concurrence  of  all  the  depart 
ments  of  Legislative  power.  It  is  an  important 
prerogative  of  this  House,  which  I  hope  will 
never  be  surrendered. 

The  zeal  and  the  ardor  of  gentlemen,  in  the 
course  of  this  debate,  have  induced  them  to  an 
nounce  to  this  house,  that,  if  we  persist  and  force 
the  state  of  Missouri  to  accede  to  the  proposed 
amendment,  as  the  condition  of  her  admission 
into  the  Union,  she  will  not  regard  it,  and,  as 
soon  as  admitted,  will  alter  her  constitution,  and 
introduce  Slavery  into  her  territory.  Sir,  I  am 
not  prepared,  nor  is  it  necessary  to  determine, 
what  would  be  the  consequence  of  such  a  viola 
tion  of  faith — of  such  a  departure  from  the  funda 
mental  condition  of  her  admission  into  the 
Union.  I  would  not  cast  upon  a  people  so  foul 
an  imputation,  as  to  believe  they  would  be  guilty 
of  such  fraudulent  duplicity.  The  States  north 
west  of  the  Ohio  have  all  regarded  the  faith  and 
the  conditions  of  their  admission ;  and  there  is  no 
reason  to  believe  the  people  of  Missouri  will  not 
also  regard  theirs.  But,  sir,  whenever  a  State 
admitted  into  the  Union  shall  disregard  and  set 
at  naught  the  fundamental  conditions  of  its  ad 
mission,  and  shall,  in  violation  of  all  faith,  un 
dertake  to  levy  a  tax  upon  lands  of  the  United 
States,  or  a  toll  upon  their  navigable  waters,  or 
introduce  Slavery,  where  Congress  have  prohi 
bited  it,  then  it  will  be  in  time  to  determine  the 
consequence.  But,  if  the  threatened  consequence 
were  known  to  be  the  certain  result,  yet  would  I 
insist  upon  the  proposed  amendment.  The  de 
claration  of  this  house,  the  declared  will  of  the 
nation  to  prohibit  Slavery,  would  produce  its 
moral  effect,  and  stand  as  one  of  the  brightest 
ornaments  of  our  country. 

Sir,  it  has  been  urged  with  great  plausibility, 
that  we  should  spread  the  slaves  now  in  our 
country,  and  thus  spread  the  evil,  rather  than 
confine  it  to  its  present  districts.  It  has  been 
said,  we  should  thereby  diminish  the  dangers 
from  them,  while  we  increase  the  means  of  their 
living,  and  augment  their  comforts.  But,  you 
may  rest  assured,  that  this  reasoning  is  fallacious, 
and  that,  while  Slavery  is  admitted,  the  market 
will  be  supplied.  Our  coast,  and  its  contiguity 
to  the  West  Indies  and  the  Spanish  possessions, 
render  easy  the  introduction  of  slaves  into  our 
country.  Our  laws  are  already  highly  penal 
against  their  introduction,  and  yet  it  is  a  well- 
known  fact,  that  about  fourteen  thousand  slaves 
have  been  brought  into  our  country  this  last 
year. 

Since  we  have  been  engaged  in  this  debate,  we 
have  witnessed  an  elucidation  of  this  argument, 


of  bettering  the  conditions  of  slaves,  by  spread 
ing  them  over  the  country.  A  slave-driver,  a 
trafficker  in  human  flesh,  as  if  sent  by  Provi 
dence,  has  passed  the  door  of  your  capitol,  on  his 
way  to  the  West,  driving  before  him  about  fif 
teen  of  these  wretched  victims  of  his  power  col 
lected  in  the  course  of  his  traffic,  and  by  their 
removal,  torn  from  every  relation  and  from  every 
tie  which  the  human  heart  can  hold  dear.  The 
males,  who  might  raise  the  arm  of  vengeance, 
and  retaliate  for  their  wrongs,  were  hand-cuffed 
and  chained  to  each  other,  while  the  females  and 
children  were  marched  in  their  rear,  under  the 
guidance  of  the  driver's  whip  !  Yes,  sir,  such 
has  been  the  scene  witnessed  from  the  windows 
of  Congress  Hall,  and  viewed  by  members  who 
compose  the  legislative  councils  of  republican 
America ! 

In  the  course  of  the  debate  on  this  subject;  we 
have  been  told  that,  from  the  long  habit  of  the 
southern  and  western  people,  the  possession  of 
slaves  has  become  necessary  to  them,  and  an  es 
sential  requisite  in  their  living.  It  hus  been 
urged,  from  the  nature  of  the  climate  and  soil  of 
the  southern  countries,  that  the  lauds  cannot  be 
occupied  or  cultivated  without  slaves.  It  hue 
been  said  that  the  slaves  prosper  in  those  places, 
and  that  they  are  much  better  off  there  than  in 
their  own  native  country.  We  have  ever  been 
told  that  if  we  succeed  and  prevent  Slavery  across 
the  Mississippi,  we  shall  greatly  lessen  the  value 
of  property  there,  and  shall  retard,  for  a  long 
series  of  years,  the  settlement  of  that  country. 

Sir,  said  Mr.  T.,  if  the  western  country  cannot 
be  settled  without  slaves,  gladly  would  1  prevent 
its  settlement  till  time  shall  be  no  more.  If  this 
class  of  arguments  is  to  prevail,  it  sets  all  morals 
at  defiance,  and  we  are  called  to  legislate  on  this 
subject  as  a  matter  of  mere  personal  interest.  If 
this  is  to  be  the  case,  repeal  all  your  laws  prohi 
biting  the  slave-trade  ;  throw  open  this  traffic  to 
the  commercial  States  of  the  East ;  and  if  it  bet 
ter  the  condition  of  these  wretched  beings,  invite 
the  dark  population  of  benighted  Africa  to  be 
translated  to  the  shores  of  republican  America. 
But  I  will  not  cast  upon  this  or  upon  that  gentle 
man  an  imputation  so  ungracious  as  the  conclu 
sion  to  which  their  arguments  would  necessarily 
tend.  I  do  not  believe  any  gentleman  on  this 
floor  would  here  advocate  the  slave-trade ;  or 
maintain  in  the  abstract  the  principles  of  Slave 
ry.  I  will  not  outrage  the  decorum,  nor  insult 
the  dignity  of  this  house,  by  attempting  to  argue 
in  this  place,  as  an  abstract  proposition,  the 
moral  right  of  Slavery.  How  gladly  would  the 
"  legitimates  of  Europe  chuckle"  to  find  an 
American  Congress  in  debate  on  such  a  ques- 
tion! 

As  an  evil  brought  upon  us  without  our  own 
fault,  before  the  formation  of  our  government, 
and  as  one  of  the  sins  of  that  nation  from  which 
we  have  revolted,  we  must  of  necessity  legislate 
upon  this  subject.  It  is  our  business  so  to  legis 
late  as  never  to  encourage,  but  always  to  con 
trol,  this  evil ;  and,  while  we  strive  to  eradicate 
it,  we  ought  to  fix  its  limits,  and  render  it  subor 
dinate  to  the  safety  of  the  white  population,  and 
^he  good  order  of  civil  society. 

Sir,  on  this  subject  the  eyes  of  Europe  are 
:urned  upon  you.  You  boast  of  the  freedom  of 
your  constitution  and  your  laws,  you  have  pro 
claimed,  in  the  Declaration  of  Independence, 
'  That  all  men  are  created  equal;  that  they  are 
'.ndowcd  by  their  Creator  with  certain  unaiiena- 
ble  rights — that  amongst  these  are  life,  liberty, 
and  the  pur  suit  of  happiness  ;"  and  yet  you  have 
slaves  ia  your  country.  The  enemies  of  your 
government,  and  the  legitimates  of  Europe,  point 
:o  your  inconsistencies,  and  blazon  your  supposed 
detects.  If  you  allow  Slavery  to  pass  into  terri 
tories  where  you  have  the  lawful  power  to  ex- 


THE  FIRST  MISSOURI  STRUGGLE. 


15 


elude  it,  you  will  justly  take  upon  yourself  all 
the  charges  of  inconsistency  ;  but  confine  it  to  the 
original  slaveholding  States,  where  you  found  it 
at  the  formation  of  your  government,  and  you 
stand  acquitted  of  all  imputation. 

This  is  a  subject  upon  which  I  have  great  feel 
ing  for  the  honor  of  my  country.  In  a  former 
debate  upon  the  Illinois  constitution,  I  mention 
ed  that  our  enemies  had  drawn  a  picture  of  our 
country,  as  holding  in  one  hand  the  Declaration 
of  Independence,  and  with  the  other  brandishing 
a  whip  over  our  affrighted  slaves.  I  then  made 
it  my  boast  that  we  could  cast  back  upon  Eng 
land  the  accusation — that  she  had  committed  the 
original  sin  of  bringing  slaves  into  our  country. 
I  have  since  received,  through  the  post-office,  a 
letter  post  marked  in  South  Carolina,  and  signed 
"  A  native  of  England,"  desiring  that,  when  I 
had  occasion  to  repeat  my  boast  against  England, 
I  would  also  state  that  she  had  atoned  for  her 
original  sin,  by  establishing  in  her  slave-colonies 
a  system  of  humane  laws,  meliorating  their  con 
dition,  and  providing  for  their  safety,  while 
America  had  committed  the  secondary  sin  of  dis 
regarding  their  condition,  and  had  even  provided 
laws,  by  which  it  was  not  murder  to  kill  a  slave. 
Sir,  I  felt  the  severity  of  the  reproof;  I  felt  for 
my  country.  I  have  inquired  on  the  subject, 
and  I  find  such  were  formerly  the  laws  in  some 
of  the  slaveholding  States ;  and  that  even  now, 
in  the  State  of  South  Carolina,  by  law,  the  pen 
alty  of  death  is  provided  for  stealing  a  slave, 
whilo  the  murder  of  a  slave  is  punished  with  a 
trivial  fine.  Such  is  the  contrast  and  the  relative 
value  which  is  placed,  in  the  opinion  of  a  slave- 
holding  State,  between  the  property  of  the  mas 
ter  and  the  life  of  a  slave. 

Sir,  gentlemen  have  undertaken  to  criminate, 
and  to  draw  odious  contrasts  between  different 
sections  of  our  country— I  shall  not  combat  such 
arguments  ;  I  have  made  no  pretense  to  exclusive 
morality  on  this  subject,  either  for  myself  or  my 
constituents ;  nor  have  I  cast  any  imputations 
on  others.  On  the  contrary,  I  hold  that  man 
kind  under  like  circumstances  are  alike,  the 
world  over.  The  vicious  and  unprincipled  are 
confined  to  no  district  of  country  and  it  is  for 
this  portion  of  the  community  we  are  bound  to 
legislate.  When  honorable  gentlemen  inform  us 
we  overrate  the  cruelty  and  the  dangers  of 
Slavery,  and  tell  us  that  their  slaves  are  happy, 
and  contented,  and  would  even  contribute  to 
their  safety,  they  tell  us  but  very  little  ;  they  do 
not  tell  us,  that,  while  their  slaves  are  happy, 
the  slaves  of  some  depraved  and  cruel  wretch  in 
their  neighborhood  may  not  be  stimulated  to  re 
venge,  and  thus  involve  the  country  in  ruin.  If 
we  had  to  legislate  only  for  such  gentlemen  as 
are  now  embraced  within  my  view,  a  law  against 
robbing  the  mail  would  be  a  disgrace  upon  the 
nation  ;  and,  as  useless,  I  would  tear  it  from  the 
pages  of  your  statute  book ;  yet  sad  experience 
has  taught  us  the  necessity  of  such  laws — and 
honor,  justice,  and  policy  teach  us  the  wisdom 
of  legislating  to  limit  the  extension  of  Slavery. 

In  the  zeal  to  draw  sectional  contrasts,  we  have 
been  told  by  one  gentleman,  that  gentlemen  from 
one  district  of  country  talk  of  their  morality, 
while  those  of  another  practice  it.  And  the  su 
perior  liberality  has  been  asserted  of  Southern 
gentlemen  over  those  of  the  North,  in  all  contribu 
tions  to  moral  institutions,  for  bible  and  mission 
ary  societies.  Sir,  I  understand  too  well  the  pur 
suit  of  my  purpose,  to  be  decoyed  and  drawn  off 
into  the  discussion  of  a  collateral  subject.  I 
have  no  inclination  to  controvert  these  assertions 
of  comparative  liberality.  Although  I  have  no 
idea  they  are  founded  in  fact,  yet,  because  it  bet 
ter  suits  the  object  of  my  present  argument,  I 
will,  on  this  occasion,  admit  them  to  the  fullest 
extent.  And  what  is  the  result  ?  Southern  gen- 


j  tlemen,  by  their  superor  liberality  in  contribu 
tions  to  moral  institutions,  justly  stand  in  the 
first  rank,  and  hold  the  first  place  in  the  brightest 
page  in  the  history  of  our  country.  But,  turn 
over  this  page,  and  what  do  you  behold  ?  You 
behold  them  contributing  to  teach  the  doctrines 
of  Christianity  in  every  quarter  of  the  globe. 
You  behold  them  legislating  to  secure  the  ig 
norance  and  stupidity  of  their  own  slaves  !  You 
behold  them,  prescribing,  by  law,  penalties 
against  the  man  that  dares  teach  a  negro  to  read. 
Such  is  the  statute  law  of  the  State  of  Virginia. 
[Mr.  Bassett  and  Mr.  Tyler  said  that  there  was 
no  such  law  in  Virginia.] 

No,  said  Mr.  T.,  I  have  mis-spoken  myself;  I 
ought  to  have  said,  such  is  the  statute  law  of  the 
State  of  Georgia.  Yes,  while  we  hear  of  a 
liberality  which  civilizes  the  savages  of  all 
countries,  and  carries  the  gospel  alike  to  the 
Hottentot  and  the  Hindoo,  it  has  been  reserved 
for  the  republican  State  of  Georgia,  not  content 
with  the  care  of  its  overseers,  to  legislate  to  se 
cure  the  oppression  and  the  ignorance  of  their 
slaves.  The  man  who  there  teaches  a  negro  to 
read,  is  liable  to  a  criminal  prosecution.  The 
dark,  benighted  beings  of  all  creation  profit  by 
our  liberality — save  those  of  our  own  plantations. 
Where  is  the  missionary  who  possesses  sufficient 
hardihood  to  venture  a  residence  to  teach  the 
slaves  of  a  plantation  ?  Here  is  the  stain  \  Here 
is  the  stigma !  which  fastens  upon  the  character 
of  our  country ;  and  which,  in  the  appropriate 
language  of  the  g<mtleman  from  Georgia,  (Mr. 
Cobb.)  all  the  waters  of  the  ocean  cannot  wash, 
out ;  which,  seas  of  blood  can  only  take  away. 

Sir,  there  is  yet  another,  and  an  important 
point  of  view,  in  which  this  subject  ought  to  be 
considered.  We  have  been  told  by  those  who 
advocate  the  extension  of  Slavery  into  the  Mis 
souri,  that  any  attempt  to  control  this  subject  by 
legislation,  is  a  violation  of  that  faith  and  mu 
tual  confidence  upon  which  our  Union  was 
formed,  and  our  Constitution  adopted.  This  ar 
gument  might  be  considered  plausible,  if  the 
restriction  was  attempted  to  be  enforced  against 
any  of  the  slaveholding  States,  which  had  been  a 
party  in  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution.  But 
it  can  have  no  reference  or  application  to  a  new- 
district  of  country  recently  acquired,  and  never 
contemplated  in  the  formation  of  government, 
and  not  embraced  in  the  mutual  concessions  and 
declared  faith  upon  which  the  Constitution  was 
adopted.  The  Constitution  provides,  that  the 
Representatives  of  the  several  States  to  this 
House  shall  be  according  to  their  number,  in 
cluding  tliree-jifths  of  the  slaves  in  the  respective 
States.  This  is  an  important  benefit  yielded  to 
the  slaveholding  States,  as  one  of  the  mutual 
sacrifices  for  the  Union.  On  this  subject,  I  con 
sider  the  faith  of  the  Union  pledged,  and  I  never 
would  attempt  coercive  manumission  in  a  slave- 
holding  State. 

But  none  of  the  causes  which  induced  the 
sacrifice  of  this  principle,  and  which  now  produce 
such  an  unequal  representation  on  this  floor,  of 
the  free  population  of  the  country,  exist  as  be 
tween  us  and  the  newly-acquired  Territory 
across  the  Mississippi.  That  portion  of  country 
has  no  claims  to  such  an  unequal  representation, 
unjust  in  its  results  upon  the  other  States.  Are 
the  numerous  slaves  in  extensive  countries,  which 
we  may  acquire  by  purchase,  and  admit  as  States 
into  the  Union,  at  once  to  be  represented  on  this 
floor,  under  a  clause  of  the  Constitution,  granted 
as  a  compromise  and  a  benefit  to  the  southern 
States  which  had  borne  part  in  the  Revolution  ? 
Such  an  extension  of  that  clause  in  the  Constitu 
tion  would  be  unjust  in  its  operations,  unequal  in 
its  results,  and  a  violation  of  its  original  intention. 
Abstract  from  the  moral  effects  of  Slavery,  its 
political  consequence  in  the  representation  under 


16 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  SLAVERY  RESTRICTION. 


this  clause  of  the  Constitution,  demonstrate  the 
importance  of  the  proposed  amendment. 

Sir,  I  shall  bow  in  silence  to  the  will  of  the 
majority,  on  whichever  side  it  shall  be  expressed  : 
yet  I  confidently  hope  that  majority  will  be 
found  on  the  side  of  an  amendment,  so  replete 
with  moral  consequences,  so  pregnant  with  im 
portant  political  results. 

Mr.  SCOTT,  of  Missouri,  said,  be  trusted 

that,  his  conduct,  during  the  whole  of  the  time 
in  which  he  had  the  honor  of  a  seat  in  the  House, 
had  convinced  gentlemen  of  his  disposition  not 
to  obtrude  his  sentiments  on  any  other  subjects 
than  those  on  which  the  interest  of  his  consti 
tuents,  and  of  the  Territory  he  represented,  were 
immediately  concerned.  But  when  a  question 
such  as  the  amendments  proposed  by  the  gentle 
men  from  New  York  (Messrs.  Tallmadge  and 
Taylor),  was  presented  for  consideration,  in 
volving  constitutional  principles  to  a  vast 
amount,  pregnant  with  the  future  fate  of  the 
Territory,  portending  destruction  to  the  liberties 
of  that  people,  directly  bearing  on  their  rights  of 
property,  their  state  rights,  their  all,  he  should 
consider  it  as  a  dereliction  of  his  duty,  as  retreat 
ing  from  his  post,  nay,  double  criminality,  did 
he  not  raise  his  voice  against  their  adoption. 
After  the  many  able  and  luminous  views  that 
had  been  taken  of  this  subject,  by  the  speaker  of 
the  House,  and  other  honorable  gentlemen,  he 
had  not  the  vanity  to  suppose  that  any  additional 
views  which  he  could  offer  or  any  new  dress  in 
which  he  could  clothe  those  already  advanced, 
would  have  the  happy  tendency  of  inducing  any 
gentleman  to  change  his  vote.  But.  if  he  stood 
single  on  the  question,  and  there  was  no  man  to 
help  him,  yet,  while  the  laws  of  the  land  and  the 
rules  of  the  House  guaranteed  to  him  the  privi 
lege  of  speech,  he  would  redeem  his  conscience 
from  the  imputation  of  having  silently  witnessed 
a  violation  of  the  Constitution  of  his  country, 
and  an  infringement  on  the  liberties  of  the 
people  who  had  intrusted  to  his  feeble  abilities 
the  advocation  of  their  rights.  He  desired,  at 
this  early  stage  of  his  remarks,  in  the  name  of 
the  citizens  of  Missouri  Territory,  whose  rights 
on  other  subjects  had  been  too  long  neglected 
and  shamefully  disregarded,  to  enter  his  solemn 
protest  against  the  introduction,  under  the  in 
sidious  form  of  amendment,  of  any  principle  in 
this  bill,  the  obvious  tendency  of  which  would 
be  to  sow  the  seeds  of  discord  in,  and  perhaps 
eventually  endanger  the  Union. 

Mr.  S.  entertained  the  opinion,  that,  under  the 
Constitution,  Congress  had  not  the  power  to  im 
pose  this,  or  any  other  restriction,  or  to  require 
of  the  people  of  Missouri  their  assent  to  this  con 
dition,  as  a  pre-requisite  to  their  admission  into 
the  Union.  He  contended  this  from  the  language 
of  the  Constitution  itself,  from  the  practice  in  the 
admission  of  new  States  under  that  instrument, 
and  from  the  express  terms  of  the  treaty  of  ces 
sion.  The  short  view  he  intended  to  take  of 
those  points  would,  he  trusted,  be  satisfactory  to 
all  those  who  were  not  so  anxious  to  usurp  power 
as  to  sacrifice  to  its  attainment  the  principles  of 
our  government,  or  who  were  not  desirous  of 
prostrating  the  rights  and  independence  of  a 
State  to  chimerical  views  of  policy  or  expediency. 
The  authority  to  admit  new  States  into  the  Union 
was  granted  in  the  third  section  of  the  fourth  ar 
ticle  of  the  Constitution,  which  declared  that 
"  new  States  my  be  admitted  by  the  Congress 
into  the  Union."  The  only  power  given  to  the 
Congress  by  this  section  appeared  to  him  to 
be,  that  of  passing  a  law  for  the  admission  of 
the  new  State,  leaving  it  in  possession  of  all  the 
rights,  privileges,  and  immunities,  enjoyed  by 
the  other  States;  the  most  valuable  and  promi 
nent  of  which  was  that  of  forming  and  modifying 


their  own  State  Constitution,  and  over  which 
Congress  had  no  superintending  control,  other 
than  that  expressly  given  in  the  fourth  section  of 
the  same  article,  which  read,  "the  United  States 
shall  guarantee  to  every  State  in  this  Union  a 
republican  form  of  government."  This  end  ac 
complished,  the  guardianship  of  the  United 
States  over  the  Constitutions  of  the  several  States 
was  fulfilled  ;  and  all  restrictions,  limitations  and 
conditions  beyond  this,  was  so  much  power  un 
warrantably  assumed.  In  illustration  of  this 
position,  he  would  read  an  extract  from  one  of 
the  essays  written  by  the  late  President  Madison, 
contemporaneously  with  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  and  from  a  very  celebrated  work  : 
"  In  a  confederacy  founded  on  republican  prin 
ciples,  and  composed  of  republican  members, 
the  superintending  government  ought  clearly  to 
possess  authority  to  defend  the  system  against 
aristocratic  or  monarchical  innovations.  The 
more  intimate  the  nature  of  such  an  Union  may 
be,  the  greater  interest  have  the  members  in  the 
political  institutions  of  each  other,  and  the  greater 
right  to  insist  that  the  forms  of  government  un 
der  which  the  compact  was  entered  into,  should 
be  substantially  maintained.  But  this  axithority 
extends  no  further  than  to  a  guarantee  of  a  re 
publican  form  of  government,  which  supposes  a 
pre-existing  government  of  the  form  which  is  to 
be  guaranteed.  As  long,  therefore,  as  the  ex 
isting  republican  forms  are  continued  by  the 
States,  they  are  guaranteed  by  the  Federal  Con 
stitution.  Whenever  the  States  may  choose  to 
substitute  other  republican  forms,  they  have  a 
right  to  do  so,  and  to  claim  the  Federal  guarantee 
for  the  latter.  The  only  restriction  imposed  on 
them  is,  that  they  shall  not  exchange  republican 
for  anti-republican  Constitutions;  a  restriction 
which,  it  is  presumed,  will  hardly  be  considered 
as  a  grievance." 

Mr.  S.  thought  that  those  two  clauses,  when 
supported  by  such  high  authority,  had  they  been 
the  only  ones  in  the  Constitution  which  related 
to  the  powers  of  the  general  government  over 
the  States,  and  particularly  at  their  formation  and 
adoption  into  the  Union,  could  not  but  be  deemed 
satisfactory  to  a  reasonable  extent ;.  but  there 
were  other  provisions  in  the  Constitution,  to 
which  he  would  refer,  that  beyond  all  doubt,  to 
his  mind,  settled  the  question.  One  of  those  was 
the  tenth  article  in  the  amendments,  which  said 
that  "the  powers  not  delegated  to  the  United 
States  by  the  Constitution,  nor  prohibited  by  it 
to  the  States,  are  reserved  to  the  States  respec 
tively  or  to  the  people."  He  believed  that,  by 
common  law,  and  common  usage,  all  grants  giv 
ing  certain  defined  and  specific  privileges,  or 
powers,  were  to  be  so  construed  as  that  no  others 
should  be  intended  to  be  given  but  such  as  were 
particularly  enumerated  in  the  instruments  them 
selves,  or  indispensably  necessary  to  carry  into 
effect  those  designated.  In  no  part  of  the  Consti 
tution  was  the  power  proposed  to  be  exercised,  of 
imposing  conditions  on  anew  State,  given,  either 
in  so  many  words,  or  by  any  justifiable  or  fair 
inference  ;  nor  in  any  portion  of  the  Constitution 
was  the  right  prohibiteu  to  the  respective  States, 
to  regulate  their  own  internal  police,  of  admitting 
such  citizens  as  they  pleased,  or  of  introducing 
any  description  of  property,  that  they  should  con 
sider  as  essential  or  necessary  to  their  prosperity; 
and  the  framers  of  that  instrument  seem  to  hava 
been  zealous  lest,  by  implication  or  by  inference, 
powers  might  be  assumed  by  the  general  govern 
ment  over  the  states  and  people,  other  than  those 
expressly  given :  hence  they  reserve  in  so  many 
terms  to  the  states,  and  the  people,  all  powers  not 
delegated  to  the  federal  government.  The  ninth 
article  of  the  amendments  to  the  Constitution 
still  further  illustrated  the  position  he  had  taken  ; 
it  read,  that  "  the  enumeration  in  the  Constitution 


THE  FIRST  MISSOURI  STRUGGLE. 


17 


of  certain  rights  shall  not  be  construed  to  deny  or 
disparage  others  retained  by  the  people."  Mr. 
S.  believed  it  to  be  a  just  rule  of  interpretation, 
that  the  enumeration  of  powers  delegated  to  Con 
gress  weakened  their  authority  in  all  cases  not 
enumerated  ;  and  that  beyond  those  powers  enu 
merated  they  had  none,  except  they  were  essen 
tially  necessary  to  carry  into  effect  those  that 
were  given.  The  second  section  of  the  fourth 
article  of  the  Constitution,  which  declared  that 
"  the  citizens  of  each  State  shall  be  entitled  to  all 
the  privileges  and  immunities  of  citizens  in  the 
several  States,"  was  satisfactory,  to  his  judgment, 
that  it  was  intended  the  citizens  of  each  State, 
forming  a  part  of  one  harmonious  whole,  should 
have,  in  all  things,  equal  privileges ;  the  necessary 
consequences  of  which  was,  that  every  man,  in 
his  own  State,  should  have  the  same  rights,  privi 
leges,  and  powers,  that  any  other  citizen  of  the 
United  States  had  in  his  own  State ;  otherwise  dis 
content  and  munnuriugs  would,  prevail  against 
the  general  government  who  had  deprived  him 
of  this  equality. 

For  example,  if  the  citizens  of  Pennsylvania, 
or  Virginia,  enjoyed  the  right,  in  their  own  State, 
to  decide  the  question  whether  they  would  have 
Slavery  or  not,  the  citizens  of  Missouri,  to  give 
them  the  same  privileges,  must  have  the  same 
right  to  decide  whether  they  would  or  would  not 
tolerate  Slavery  in  their  State  ;  if  it  were  other 
wise,  then  the  citizens  of  Pennsylvania  and 
Virginia  would  have  more  rights,  privileges, 
and  powers  in  their  respective  States,  than 
the  citizens  of  Missouri  would  have  in  theirs. 
Mr.  S.  said  he  would  make  another  quotation 
from  the  same  work  he  had  before  been  indebted 
to,  which  he  believed  had  considerable  bearing 
on  this  question.  "  The  powers  delegated 
by  the  proposed  constitution,  to  the  federal  gov 
ernment,  are  few  and  defined  ;  those  which  are  to 
remain  in  the  State  Governments,  are  numerous 
and  indefinite  ;  the  former  will  be  exercised  prin 
cipally  on  external  objects,  as  war,  peace,  nego 
tiation,  and  foreign  commerce,  with  which  last 
the  powers  of  taxation  will,  for  the  most  part,  be 
connected.  The  powers  reserved  to  the  several 
States  will  extend  to  all  the  objects,  which  in  the 
ordinary  course  of  affairs  concern  the  lives,  liber 
ties,  and  properties  of  the  people,  and  the  internal 
order,  improvement,  and  prosperity  of  the  State." 
The  applicability  of  this  doctrine  to  the  question 
under  consideration  was  so  obvious,  that  he 
would  not  detain  the  House  to  give  examples, 
but  leave  it  for  gentlemen  to  make  the  applica 
tion.  He  would,  however,  make  one  other  refer 
ence  to  the  Constitution,  before  he  proceeded  to 
speak  of  the  practice  under  it ;  in  the  second  sec 
tion  of  that  instrument  it  was  provided,  that 
"  representatives,  and  direct  taxes,  shall  be  ap 
portioned  among  the  several  States  which  may 
be  included  within  this  Union,  according  to  their 
respective  numbers,  which  shall  be  determined 
by  adding  to  the  whole  number  of  free  persons, 
including  those  bound  to  service  for  a  term  of 
years,  and  excluding  Indians  not  taxed,  three- 
lifths  of  all  other  persons."  This  provision  was 
not  restricted  to  the  States  then  formed,  and  about 
to  adopt  the  Constitution  ;  but  to  all  those  States 
which  migkt  be  included  within  this  Union, 
clearly  contemplating  the  admission  of  new  States 
thereafter,  and  providing,  that  to  them,  also, 
should  this  principle  of  representation  and  taxa 
tion  equally  apply.  Nor  could  he  subscribe  to 
the  construction,  that  as  this  part  of  the  Constitu 
tion  was  matter  of  compromise,  it  was  to  be  lim 
ited  in  its  application  to  the  original  Stutes  only, 
and  not  to  be  extended  to  all  those  States  that 
might  after  its  adoption  become  members  of  the 
Federal  Union  ;  and  a  practical  exposition  had 
been  made  by  Congress  of  this  part  of  the  Consti 
tution,  in  the  admission  of  Kentucky,  Louisiana, 
2 


and  Mississippi  States,  all  of  whom  were  slave- 
holding  States,  and  to  each  of  them  this  principle 
had  been  extended. 

Mr.  S.  believed,  that  the  practice  under  the 
Constitution  had  been  different  from  that  now- 
contended  for  by  gentlemen  ;  he  was  unapprised 
of  any  similar  provision  having  ever  been  made, 
or  attempted  to  be  made,  in  relation  to  any  other 
new  State  heretofore  admitted.  The  argument 
drawn  from  the  States  formed  out  of  the  Territory 
northwest  of  the  river  Ohio,  he  did  not  consider 
as  analogous  ;  that  restriction,  if  any,  was  im 
posed  in  pursuance  of  a  compact,  and  only,  so 
tar  as  Congress  could  do,  carried  into  effect  tho 
disposition  of  Virginia  in  reference  to  a  part  of 
her  own  original  Territory,  and  was,  in  every 
respect,  more  just,  because  that  provision  was 
made  and  published  to  the  world  at  a  time  when 
but  few,  if  any,  settlements  were  formed  within 
that  tract  of  country;  and  the  children  of  those 
people  of  color  belonging  to  the  inhabitants  then 
there  have  been,  and  still  were,  held  in  bondage, 
and  were  not  free  at  a  given  age,  as  was  contem 
plated  by  the  amendment  under  consideration, 
nor  did  he  doubt  but  that  it  was  competent  for 
any  of  those  States  admitted  in  pursuance  of  the 
ordinance  of  '87,  to  call  a  convention,  and  so  to 
alter  their  constitution  as  to  allow  the  introduc 
tion  of  Slaves,  if  they  thought  proper  to  do  so. 
To  those  gentlemen  who  had  in  their  argument, 
in  support  of  the  amendments,  adverted  to  tho 
instance  where  Congress  had,  by  the  law  author 
izing  the  people  of  Louisiana  to  form  a  constitu 
tion  and  State  government,  exercised  the  power 
of  imposing  the  terms  and  conditions  on  which 
they  should  be  permitted  to  do  so,  he  would  re 
commend  a  careful  examination  and  comparison 
of  those  terms  with  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  when,  he  doubted  not,  they  would 
be  convinced  that  these  restrictions  were  only 
such  as  were  in  express  and  positive  language 
defined  in  the  latter  instrument,  and  would  have 
been  equally  binding  on  the  people  of  Louisiana 
had  they  not  been  enumerated  in  the  law  giving 
them  authority  to  form  a  constitution  for  them 
selves. 

Mr.  S.  said,  he  considered  the  contemplated 
conditions  and  restrictions,  contained  in  the  pro 
posed  amendments,  to  be  unconstitutional  and 
unwarrantable,  from  the  provisions  of  the  treaty 
of  cession,  by  the  third  article  of  which  it  was 
stipulated,  that  "  the  inhabitants  of  the  ceded 
Territory  shall  be  incorporated  in  the  Union  of 
the  United  States,  and  admitted,  as  soon  as  pos 
sible,  according  to  the  principles  of  the  Federal 
Constitution,  to  the  enjoyment  of  all  the  rights, 
advantages,  and  immunities  of  citizens  of  the 
United  States,  and,  in  the  mean  1  ime,  they  shall 
be  maintained  and  protected  in  the  free  enjoy 
ment  of  their  liberty,  property,  and  the  religion 
which  they  profess." 

This  treaty  having  been  made  by  the  compe 
tent  authority  of  government,  ratified  by  the  Sen 
ate,  and  emphatically  sanctioned  by  Congress  in 
the  acts  making  appropriations  to  carry  it  into 
effect,  became  a  part  of  the  supreme  law  of  the 
hind,  and  its  bearings  on  the  rigiits  of  the  people 
had  received  a  practical  exposition  by  tlie  ad 
mission  of  the  State  of  Louisiana,  part  of  the 
same  Territory,  and  acquired  by  the  same  treaty 
of  cession,  into  the  Union.  It  was  in  vain  for 
gentlemen  to  tell  him  that,  by  the  terms  of  tho 
treaty  of  cession,  the  United  States  were  not 
bound  to  admit  any  part  of  the  ceded  Territory 
into  the  Union  as  a  State ;  the  evidence  of  the 
obligation  Congress  considered  they  were  under, 
to  adopt  States  formed  out  of  that  Territory,  is 
clearly  deducible  from  the  fact,  that  they  had 
done  so  in  the  instance  of  Louisiana.  But,  had 
no  State  been  admitted,  formed  of  a  part  of  the 
Territory  acquired  by  that  treaty,  the  obligation 


IS 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR   SLAVERY   RESTRICTION. 


of  the  government  to  do  so  would  not  be  the  less 
apparent  to  him.  "  The  inhabitants  of  the  ceded 
Territory  shall  be  incorporated  in  the  Union  of 
the  U nifed  States."  The  people  were  not  left  to 
the  wayward  discretion  of  this,  or  any  other  gov 
ernment,  by  saying  that  they  may  be  incorporated 
in  the  Union.  The  language  was  different  and 
imperative:  u  they  shall  be  incorporated."  Mr. 
Scott  understood  by  the  term  incorporated,  that 
they  were  to  form  a  constituent  part  of  this  re- 

Eublic  ,  that  they  were  to  become  joint  partners 
i  the  character  and  councils  of  the  country,  and 
in  tiie  national  losses  and  national  gains ;  as  a 
Territory  they  were  not  an  essential  part  of  the 
government ;  they  were  a  mere  province,  subject 
to  the  acts  and  regulations  of  the  general  govern 
ment  in  all  cases  whatsoever.  As  a  Territory 
they  had  not  all  the  rights,  advantages  and  im- 
mnn/'/ex,  of  citizens  of  the  United  States.  Mr. 
S.  himself  furnished  an  example,  that,  in  their 
present  condition,  they  had  not  all  the  rights  of 
the  other  citizens  of  the  Union.  Had  he  a  vote 
in  this  House  ?  and  yet  these  people  were,  during 
the  war,  subject  to  certain  taxes  imposed  by  Con 
gress.  Had  those  people  any  voice  to  give  in  the 
imposition  of  taxes  to  which  they  were  subject, 
or  in  the  disposition  of  the  funds  of  the  nation, 
and  particularly  those  arising  from  the  sales  of 
the  public  lands  to  which  they  already  had,  and 
still  would  largely  contribute?  Had  they  a 
voice  to  give  in  selecting  the  officers  of  this  gov 
ernment,  or  many  of  'their  own  ?  In  short,  in 
what  had  they  equal  rights,  advantages,  and  im 
munities  with  the  other  citizens  of  the  United 
States,  but  in  the  privilege  to  submit  to  a  pro 
crastination  of  their  rights,  and  in  the  advantage 
to  subscribe  to  your  laws,  your  rules,  your  taxes, 
and  your  powers,  even  without  a  hearing?  Those 
people  were  also  "  to  be  admitted  into  the  Union 
as  soon  as  possible."  Mr.  Scott  would  infer  from 
this  expression,  that  it  was  the  understanding  of 
the  parties,  that  so  soon  as  any  portion  of  the 
Territory,  of  sufficient  extent  to  form  a  State, 
should  contain  the  number  of  inhabitants  requir 
ed  by  law  to  entitle  them  to  a  representative  on 
the  floor  of  this  House,  that  they  then  had  the 
right  to  make  the  call  for  admission,  and  this  ad 
mission,  when  made,  was  to  be,  not  on  conditions 
that  gentlemen  might  deem  expedient,  not  on 
conditions  referable  to  future  political  views,  not 
on  conditions  that  the  constitution  the  people 
should  form  should  contain  a  clause  that  would 
particularly  open  the  door  for  emigration  from 
the  North  or  from  the  South,  not  on  condition  that 
the  future  population  of  the  State  should  come 
from  a  slaveholding  or  non-slaveholding  State, 
"  but  according  to  the  principles  of  the  Federal 
Constitution"  and  none  other.  The  people  of 
Missouri  were,  by  solemn  treaty  stipulation,  when 
admitted,  to  enjoy  all  the  rights,  advantages,  and 
immunities  of  citizens  of  the  United  States.  Can 
any  gentleman  contend,  that,  laboring  under  the 
proposed  restriction,  the  citizens  of  Missouri 
would  have  all  the  rights,  advantages,  and  im 
munities  of  other  citizens  of  the  Union  ?  Have 
not  other  new  States,  in  their  admission,  and 
have  not  all  the  States  in  the  Union,  now,  privi 
leges  and  rights  beyond  what  was  contemplated 
to  be  allowed  to  the  citizens  of  Missouri  ?  Have 
not  all  other  States  in  this  government  the  right 
to  alter,  modify,  amend,  and  change  their  state 
constitutions,  having  regard  alone  to  a  republican 
form  ?  And  was  there  any  existing  law,  or  any 
clause  in  the  Federal  Constitution,  that  prohibit 
ed  a  total  change  from  a  slaveholding  to  a  non- 
elaveholding  State,  or  from  a  non-slaveholding  to 
a  Blaveholding  State  ?  Mr.  Scott  thought,  that  if 
this  provision  was  proper,  or  within  the  powers 
of  Congress,  they  also  had  the  correlative  right 
to  say,  that  the  people  of  Missouri  should  not  be 
admitted  as  a  state,  unless  they  provided,  in  the 


formation  of  their  state  constitution,  that  Slavery 
should  be  tolerated.  Would  not  those  conscien 
tious  gentlemen  startle  at  this,  and  exclaim,  what, 
impose  on  those  people  slaves,  when  they  do  not 
want  them  ?  This  would  be  said  to  be  a  direct 
attack  on  the  State  independence.  Was  it  in  the 
power  of  Congress  to  annex  the  present  condi 
tion,  Mr.  Scott  deemed  it  equally  within  the  scope 
of  their  authority  to  say,  what  color  the  inhabit 
ants  of  the  proposed  state  should  be,  what  de 
scription  of  property,  other  than  slaves,  those 
people  should  or  should  not  possess,  and  the 
quantity  of  property  each  man  should  retain, 
going  upon  the  agrarian  principle.  He  would 
even  go  further,  and  say,  that  Congress  had  an 
equal  power  to  enact  to  what  religion  the  people 
should  subscribe ;  that  none  other  should  be  pro 
fessed,  and  to  provide  for  the  excommunication 
of  all  those  who  did  not  submit. 

The  people  of  Missouri  were,  if  admitted  into 
the  Union,  to  come  in  on  an  equal  footing  with 
the  original  States.  That  the  people  of  the  other 
States  had  the  right  to  regulate  their  own  internal 
police,  to  prescribe  the  rules  of  their  own  conduct, 
and,  in  the  formation  of  their  constitutions,  to 
say  whether  Slavery  was  or  was  not  admissible, 
he  believed  was  a  point  conceded  by  all.  How, 
.then,  were  the  citizens  of  Missouri  placed  on  an 
equal  footing  with  the  other  members  of  the 
Union  ?  Equal  in  some  respects — a  shameful 
discrimination  in  others.  A  discrimination  not 
warranted  by  the  Constitution,  nor  justified  by 
the  treaty  of  cession,  but  founded  on  mistaken 
zeal,  or  erroneous  policy.  They  were  to  be 
bound  down  by  onerous  conditions,  limitations, 
and  restrictions  to  which  he  knew  they  would 
not  submit.  That  people  were  brave  and  inde 
pendent  in  spirit,  they  were  intelligent,  and  knew 
their  own  rights  ;  they  were  competent  to  self- 
government,  and  willing  to  risk  their  own  happi 
ness  and  future  prosperity  on  the  legitimate  exer 
cise  of  their  own  judgment  and  free  will.  Mr. 
Scott  protested  against  such  a  guardianship  as 
was  contemplated  now  to  bn  assumed  over  his 
constituents.  The  spirit  of  freedom  burned  in 
the  bosoms  of  the  freemen  of  Missouri,  and  if 
admitted  into  the  national  family,  they  would  be 
equal,  or  not  come  in  at  all.  With  what  an  anxi 
ous  eye  have  they  looked  to  the  east,  since  the 
commencement  of  this  session  of  Congress,  for 
the  good  tidings,  that  on  them  you  had  coni'erred 
the  glorious  privilege  of  self-government,  and 
independence.  What  seeds  of  discord  will  you 
sow,  when  they  read  this  suspicious,  shameful, 
unconstitutional  inhibition  in  their  charter? 
Will  they  not  compare  it  with  the  terms  of  the 
treaty  of  cession,  that  bill  of  their  rights,  emphatic 
ally  their  magna  charta  ?  And  will  not  the  re 
sult  of  that  comparison  be  a  stigma  on  the  faith 
of  this  government  ?  It  had  been  admitted  by 
some  gentlemen,  in  debate,  that,  were  the  people 
of  Missouri  to  form  a  constitution  conforming  to 
this  provision,  so  soon  as  they  were  adopted  into 
the  Union  it  would  be  competent  for  them  1o  call 
a  convention  and  alter  their  constitution  on  this 
subject.  Why,  then,  he  ivould  ask  gentlemen, 
would  they  legislate,  when  they  could  produce 
no  permanent,  practical  effect?  Why  expose 
the  imbecility  of  the  general  government,  to  tie 
up  the  hands  of  the  State,  and  induce  the  people 
to  an  act  of  chicanery,  which  he  knew  from  prin 
ciple  they  abhorred,  to  get  clear  of  an  odious  re 
striction  on  their  rights?  Mr.  Scott  had  trusted 
that  gentlemen  who  professed  to  be  actuated  by 
motives  of  humanity  and  principle  would  not  en 
courage  a  course  of  dissimulation,  or,  by  any 
vote  of  tl'eirs,  render  it  necessary  for  the  citizens 
of  Missouri  to  act  equivocally  to  obtain  their 
rights.  He  was  unwilling  to  believe,  thatpoliti- 
cal  views  alone  led  gentlemen  on  this  or  any 
other  occasion ;  but,  from  the  language  of  the 


THE  FIRST  MISSOURI  STRUGGLE. 


19 


member  from  New- York  (Mr.  Taylor),  he  was 
compelled  to  suspect  that  they  had  their  influence, 
upon  him.  That  gentleman  has  told  us,  that  if 
ever  he  left  his  present  residence,  it  would  be  for 
Illinois  or  Missouri ;  at  all  events,  he  wished  to 
send  out  his  brothers  and  his  sons.  Mr.  Scott 
begged  that  gentleman  to  relieve  him  from  the 
awful  apprehension  excited  by  the  prospect  of 
this  accession  of  population.  He  hoped  the 
House  would  excuse  him  while  he  stated,  that  he 
did  not  desire  that  gentleman,  his  sons,  or  his 
brothers,  in  that  land  of  brave,  noble,  and  inde 
pendent  freemen.  The  member  says  that  the 
latitude  is  too  far  north  to  admit  of  Slavery  there. 
Would  the  gentleman  cast  his  eye  on  the  map 
before  him,  he  would  there  see,  that  a  part  of 
Kentucky,  Virginia,  and  Maryland,  were  as  far 
north  as  the  northern  boundary  of  the  proposed 
State  of  Missouri.  Mr.  Scott  would  thank  the 
gentleman  if  he  would  condescend  to  tell  him 
what  precise  line  of  latitude  suited  his  conscience, 
his  humanity,  or  his  political  views,  on  this  sub 
ject.  Could  that  member  be  serious,  when  he 
made  the  parallel  of  latitude  the  measure  of  his 
good-will  to  those  unfortunate  blacks  ?  Or  was 
he  trying  how  far  he  could  go  in  fallacious  argu 
ment  and  absurdity,  without  creating  one  blush 
even  on  his  own  cheek,  for  inconsistency  1  What, 
starve  the  negroes  out,  pen  them  up  in  the 
swamps  and  morasses,  confine  them  to  southern 
latitudes,  to  long,  scorching  days  of  labor  and 
fatigue,  until  the  race  becomes  extinct,  that  the 
fair  laud  of  Missouri  may  be  tenanted  by  that 
gentleman,  his  brothers,  and  sons?  He  ex 
pected  from  the  majority  of  the  House  a  more 
liberal  policy,  and  better  evidence  that  they 
really  were  actuated  by  humane  motives. 

Mr.  S.  said,  he  would  trouble  the  House  no 
longer  ;  he  thanked  them  for  the  attention  and 
indulgence  already  bestowed;  but  he  desired  to 
apprise  gentlemen,  before  he  sat  down,  that  they 
were  sowing  the  seeds  of  discord  in  this  Union, 
by  attempting  to  admit  states  with  unequal  privi 
leges  and  unequal  rights  ;  that  they  were  signing, 
sealing,  and  delivering  their  own  death-warrant; 
that  the  weapon  they  were  so  unjustly  wielding 
against  the  people  of  Missouri,  was  a  two-edged 
sword.  From  the  cumulative  nature  of  power, 
the  day  might  come  when  the  general  govern 
ment  might,  in  turn,  undertake  to  dictate  to  them 
on  questions  of  internal  policy  ;  Missouri,  now 
weak  and  feeble,  whose  fate  and  murmurs  would 
excite  but  little  alarm  or  sensibility,  might  be 
come  an  easy  victim  to  motives  of  policy,  party 
zeal,  or  mistaken  ideas  of  power;  but  other  times 
and  other  men  would  succeed  ;  a  future  Congress 
might  come,  who,  under  the  sanctified  forms  of 
constitutional  power,  would  dictate  to  them  odious 
conditions ;  nay,  inflict  on  their  internal  independ 
ence  a  wound  more  deep  and  dreadful  than  even 
this  to  Missouri.  The  House  had  seen  the  force 
of  precedent,  in  the  mistaken  application  of  the 
conditions  imposed  on  the  people  of  Louisiana 
anterior  to  their  admission  into  the  Union.  And, 
whatever  might  be  the  ultimate  determination  of 
the  House,  Mr.  S.  considered  this  question  big 
with  the  fate  of  Caesar  and  of  Rome. 

Mr.  COBB,  of  Georgia,  observed  that  he 
did  not  rise  for  the  purpose  of  detaining  the  at 
tention  of  the  House  for  any  length  of  time.  He 
was  too  sensible  of  the  importance  of  each  mo 
ment  which  yet  remained  of  the  session  to  ob 
trude  many  remarks  upon  thrir  patience.  But, 
upon  a  measure  involving  the  important  conse 
quences  that  this  did,  he  felt  it  to  be  an  imperious 
duty  to  express  his  sentiments,  and  to  enter  his 
most  solemn  protest  against  the  principle  propos 
ed  for  adoption  by  the  amendment.  Were  gen 
tlemen  aware  of  what  they  were  about  to  do  ? 
Did  they  foresee  no  evil  consequences  likely  to 
result  out  of  the  measure  if  adopted  ?  Could 


they  suppose  that  the  southern  States  would  sub- 
nit' with  patience  to  a  measure  the  effect  of  which 
would  be  to  exclude  them  from  all  enjoyment  of 
he  vast  region  purchased  by  the  United  Slates 
beyond  the  Mississippi,  and  which  belonged 
equally  to  them  as  to  the  northern  States?  He 
ventured  to  assure  them  that  they  would  not. 
The  people  of  the  slaveholding  States,  as  they 
are  called,  know  their  rights,  and  will  insist 
upon  the  enjoyment  of  them.  He  should  not  now 
attempt  to  go  over  ground  already  occupied  by 
others,  with  much  more  ability,  and  attempt  to 
show  that,  by  the  treaty  with  Franco,  the  people 
of  that  Territory  were  secured  in  the  enjoymont 
of  the  property  which  they  held  in  their  slaves. 
That  the  proposed  amendment  was  an  infraction 
of  this  treaty,  had  been  moet  clearly  shown.  Nor 
would  he  attempt  to  rescue  from  slander  the 
character  of  the  people  of  the  southern  States,  in 
their  conduct  towards,  and  treatment  of,  their 
black  population.  That  had  also  been  done 
with  a  degree  of  force  and  eloquence,  to  which 
he  could  pretend  no  claim,  by  the  gentleman 
from  Virginia  (Mr.  liarbour),  and  the  honorable 
speaker.  He  was,  however,  clearly  of  opinion 
that  Congress  possessed  no  power  under  the  Con 
stitution  to  adopt  the  principle  proposed  in  the 
amendment.  He  called  upon  the  advocates  of  it 
to  point  out,  and  lay  their  finger  upon  that  clause 
of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  which 
gives  to  this  body  the  right  to  legislate  upon  the 
subject.  Could  they  show  in  what  clause  or  sec 
tion  this  right  was  expressly  given,  or  from  which 
it  could  be  inferred  1  Unless  this  authority  could 
be  shown,  Congress  would  be  assuming  a  power, 
if  the  amendment  prevailed,  not  delegated  to 
them,  and  most  dangerous  in  its  exercise.  What 
is  the  end  and  tendency  of  the  measure  proposed? 
It  is  to  impose  on  the  State  of  Missouri  conditions 
not  imposed  upon  any  other  State.  It  is  to  de 
prive  her  of  one  branch  of  sovereignty  not  sur 
rendered  by  any  other  State  in  the  Union,  «ot 
even  those  beyond  the  Ohio ;  for  all  of  them  had 
legislated  upon  this  subject ;  all  of  them  had  de 
cided  for  themselves  whether  Slavery  should  be 
tolerated,  at  the  time  they  framed  their  several 
constitutions.  He  would  not  now  discuss  the 
propriety  of  admitting  Slavery.  It  is  not  now  a 
question  whether  it  is  politic  or  impolitic  to  tole 
rate  Slavery  in  the  United  States,  or  in  a  particu 
lar  State.  *It  was  a  discussion  into  which  he 
would  not  permit  himself  to  be  dragged.  Admit, 
however,  its  moral  impropriety  :  yet  there  was  a 
vast  difference  between  moral  impropriety  and 
political  sovereignty.  The  people  of  New  York 
or  Pennsylvania  may  deem  it  highly  immoral 
and  politically  improper  to  permit  Slavery,  but 
yet  they  possess  the  sovereign  right  and  power 
to  permit  it,  if  they  choose.  They  can  to-morrow 
so  alter  their  constitutions  and  laws  as  to  admit  it, 
if  they  were  so  disposed.  It  is  a  branch  of  sove 
reignty  which  the  old  Thirteen  States  never  sur 
render  in  the  adoption  of  the  Federal  Constitu 
tion.  Now,  the  bill  proposes  that  the  new  State 
shall  be  admitted  upon  an  equal  footing  with  the 
other  states  of  the  Union.  It  is  in  this  way  only 
that  she  can  be  admitted  under  the  Constitution. 
These  words  can  have  no  other  meaning  than 
that  she  shall  be  required  to  surrender  no  more 
of  her  rights  of  sovereignty  than  the  other  States, 
into  a  union  with  which  she  is  about  to  be  ad 
mitted,  have  surrendered.  Hut  if  the  proposed 
amendment  is  adopted,  will  not  this  new  State  be 
shorn  of  one  branch  of  her  sovereignty,  one  right, 
which  the  other  States  may  and  have  exercised, 
(whether  properly  or  not,  is  immaterial,)  and  do 
now  exercise  whenever  they  think  tit  ? 

Mr.  C.  observed,  that  he  did  conceive  the  prin 
ciple  involved  in  the  amendment  pregnant  with 
danger.  It  was  one,  he  repeated,  to  which  he 
believed  the  people  of  the  region  of  country 


20 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  SLAVERY  RESTRICTION. 


which  he  represented  would  not  quietly  submit. 
He  might,  perhaps,  subject  himself  to  ridicule, 
for  attempting  the  display  of  a  spirit  of  prophecy 
which  he  did  not  possess  or  of  zeal  and  enthusi 
asm  for  which  he  was  entitled  to  little  credit. 
But  he  warned  the  advocates  of  this  measure 
against  the  certain  effects  which  it  mu.st  produce. 
Effects  destructive  of  the  peace  and  harmony  of 
the  Union.  He  believed  that  they  were  kindling 
a  fire  which  all  the  waters  of  the  ocean  could 
not  extinguish.  It  could  be  extinguished  only  in 
blood  ! 

Mr.  LIVERMORE,  of  N.  H.,  said,  I  am  in  fa 
vor  of  the  proposed  amendment.  The  object  of  it  is 
to  prevent  the  extension  of  Slavery  over  the  Ter 
ritory  ceded  to  the  United  States  by  France.  It 
accords  with  the  dictates  of  reason,  and  the  best 
feelings  of  the  human  heart ;  and  is  not  calcula 
ted  to  interrupt  any  legitimate  right  arising  either 
from  the  Constitution  or  any  other  compact.  I 
propose  to  show  what  Slavery  is,  and  to  mention 
a  few  of  the  many  evils  which  follow  in  its  train  ; 
and  I  hope  to  evince  that  we  are  not  bound  to 
tolerate  the  existence  of  so  disgraceful  a  state  of 
things  beyond  its  present  extent,  and  that  it 
would  be*  impolitic  and  very  unjust,  to  let  it 
spread  over  the  whole  face  of  our  Western  Ter 
ritory.  Slavery  in  the  United  States,  is  the  con 
dition  of  man  subjected  to  the  will  of  a  master, 
who  can  make  any  disposition  of  him  short  of 
taking  away  his  life.  In  those  States  where  it  is 
tolerated,  laws  are  enacted,  making  it  penal  to  in 
struct  slaves  in  the  art  of  reading,  and  they  are 
not  permitted  to  attend  public  worship,  or  to  hear 
the  gospel  preached.  Thus,  the  light  of  science 
and  of  religion  is  utterly  excluded  from  the 
mind,  that  the  body  may  be  more  easily  bowed 
down  to  servitude.  The  bodies  of  slaves  may, 
with  impunity,  be  prostituted  to  any  purpose, 
and  deformed  in  any  manner  by  their  owners. 
The  sympathies  of  nature  in  slaves  are  disre 
garded  :  mothers  and  children  are  sold  and 
separated  ;  the  children  wring  their  little  hands, 
and  expire  in  agonies  of  grief,  while  the  bereft 
mothers  commit  suicide,  in  despair.  How  long 
will  the  desire  of  wealth  render  us  blind  to  the 
sin  of  holding  both  the  bodies  and  souls  of  our 
fellow-men  in  chains  !  But,  sir,  I  am  admonished 
of  the  Constitution,  and  told  we  cannot  emanci 
pate  slaves.  I  know  we  may  not  infringe  that 
instrument,  and  therefore  do  not  propose  to 
emancipate  slaves.  Tho  proposition  before  us 
goes  only  to  prevent  our  citizens  from  making 
slaves  of  such  as  have  a  right  to  freedom.  In 
the  present  slaveholding  States  let  Slavery  con 
tinue,  fur  our  boasted  Constitution  connives  at 
it ;  but  do  not,  for  the  sake  of  cotton  and  tobacco, 
let  it  be  told  to  future  ages  that,  while  pretend 
ing  to  love  liberty,  we  have  purchased  an  exten 
sive  country,  to  disgrace  it  with  the  foulest  re 
proach  of  nations.  Our  Constitution  requires  no 
such  thing  of  us.  The  ends  for  which  that  su- 

Sreme  law  was  made,  are  succinctly  stated  in 
;s  preface.  They  are  first  to  form  a  more  per 
fect  Union,  and  insure  domestic  tranquillity. 
Will  Slavery  eifect  this  ?  Can  we,  sir,  by  mingling 
bond  with  free,  black  spirits  with  white,  like 
Shakespeare's  witches  in  Macbeth,  form  a  more 
perfect  Union,  and  insure  domestic  tranquillity  ? 
Hucomlly,  to  establish  justice.  Is  justice  to  be 
established  by  subjecting  half  mankind  to  the 
will  of  the  other  half?  Justice,  sir,  is  blind  to 
colors,  and  weighs  in  equal  scales  the  rights  of 
all  men,  whether  white  or  black.  Thirdly,  to 
provide  for  the  common  defense,  and  secure  the 
blessings  of  liberty.  Does  Slavery  add  anything 
to  the  common  defense  ?  Sir,  the  strength  of  a 
republic  is  in  the  arm  of  freedom.  But,  above 
all  things,  do  the  blessings  of  liberty  consist  in 
Slavery  ?  If  there  is  any  sincerity  iu  our  profes 


sion,  that  Slavery  is  an  311,  tolerated  only  from 
necessity,  let  us  not,  while  we  feel  that  ill,  shun 
the  cure,  which  consists  only  in  an  honest  avowal 
that  liberty  and  equal  rights  are  the  end  and  aim 
of  all  our  institutions,  and  that  to  tolerate 
Slavery  beyond  the  narrowest  limits  prescribed 
for  it  oy  the  Constitution,  is  a  perversion  of 
them  all. 

Slavery,  sir,  I  repeat,  is  not  established  by  our 
Constitution  :  but  a  part  of  the  States  are  indulged 
in  the  commission  of  a  sin  from  which  they  could 
not  at  once  be  restrained,  and  which  they  would 
not  consent  to  abandon.  But,  sir,  if  we  could, 
by  any  process  of  reasoning,  be  brought  to  be 
lieve  it  justifiable  to  hold  others  to  involuntary 
servitude,  policy  forbids  that  we  should  increase 
it.  Even  the  present  slaveholding  States  have  an 
interest.  I  think,  in  limiting  the  extent  of  involun 
tary  servitude :  for,  should  slaves  become  much 
more  numerous,  and,  conscious  of  their  strength, 
draw  the  sword  against  their  masters,  it  will  be 
to  the  free  States  the  masters  must  resort  for  an 
efficient  power  to  suppress  servile  insurrection. 
But  we  have  made  a  treaty  with  France,  which, 
we  are  told,  can  only  be  preserved  by  the  charms 
of  Slavery. 

Sir,  said  Mr  L.,  until  the  ceded  Territory  shall 
have  been  made  into  States,  and  the  new 
States  admitted  into  the  Union,  we  can  do  what 
Ave  will  with  it.  We  can  govern  it  as  a  province, 
or  sell  it  to  any  other  nation.  A  part  of  it  is 
probably  at  this  time  sold  to  Spain,  and  the  in 
habitants  of  it,  may  soon  not  only  enjoy  the  com 
forts  of  Slavery,  but  the  blessings  of  the  holy  in 
quisition  along  with  them.  The  question  is  on 
the  admission  of  Missouri,  as  a  State,  into  the 
Union.  Surely  it  will  not  be  contended  that  we 
are  bound  by  the  treaty  to  admit  it.  The  treaty- 
making  power  does  not  extend  so  far.  Can  the 
President  and  Senate,  by  a  treaty  with  Great 
Britain,  make  the  province  of  Lower  Canada  a 
State  of  this  Union  1  To  be  received  as  a  State 
into  this  Union,  is  a  privilege  which  no  country 
can  claim  as  a  right.  It  is  a  favor  to  be  granted 
or  not,  as  the  United  States  may  choose.  When 
the  United  States  think  proper  to  grant  a  favor, 
they  may  annex  just  and  reasonable  terms:  and 
what  can  be  more  reasonable  than  for  these  States 
to  insist  that  a  new  Territory,  wishing  to  have 
the  benefits  of  freedom  extended  to  it,  should  re 
nounce  a  principle  that  militates  with  justice, 
morality,  religion,  and  every  essential  right  of 
mankind?  Louisiana  was  admitted  into  the 
Union  on  terms.  The  conditions,  I  admit,  were 
not  very  important,  but  still  they  recognize  the 
principles  for  which  I  contend. 

An  opportunity  is  now  presented,  if  not  to 
diminish,  at  least  to  prevent  the  growth  of  a  sin 
which  sits  heavily  on  the  soul  of  "every  one  of 
us.  By  embracing  this  opportunity,  we  may  re 
trieve  the  national  character,  and,  in  some  degree, 
our  own.  But  if  we  suft'er  it  to  pass  unimproved, 
let  us  at  least  be  consistent,  and  declare  that  our 
Constitution  was  made  to  impose  Slavery,  and 
not  to  establish  liberty^  Let  us  no  longer  tell 
idle  tales  about  the  gradual  abolition  of  Slavery ; 
away  with  colonization  societies,  if  their  de 
sign  is  only  to  rid  us  of  free  blacks  and  tur 
bulent  slaves;  have  done  also  with  bible  so 
cieties,  whose  views  are  extended  to  Africa  and 
the  East  Indies,  while  they  overlook  the  deplora 
ble  condition  of  their  sable  brethren  within  our 
own  borders  ;  make  no  more  laws  to  prohibit  the 
importation  of  slaves,  for  the  world  must  see  that 
the  object  of  such  laws  is  alone  to  prevent  the 
glutting  of  a  prodigious  market  for  the  flesh  and 
blood  of  man,  which  we  are  about  to  establish  in 
the  West,  and  to  enhance  the  price  of  sturdy 
wretches,  reared,  like  black  cattle  and  horses,  for 
sale  on  our  own  plantations. 


THE  SECOND  MISSOURI  STRUGGLE. 


21 


The  House  bill  thus  passed,  reached  the 
Senate,  Feb.  17th,  when  it  was  read  twice 
and  sent  to  a  Select  Committee  already 
raised  on  a  like  application  from  Alabama, 
consisting  of 

Messrs.  Tait  of  Ga.,  Morrow  of  Ohio,  Williams 
of  Miss.,  Edwards  of  111.,  Williams  of  Tenn. 

On  the  22nd,  Mr.  Tait,  from  this  Commit 
tee,  reported  the  bill  with  amendments,  strik- 
out  the  anti-slavery  restrictions  inserted  by 
the  House.  This  bill  was  taken  up  in  Com 
mittee, of  the  Whole  on  the  27th,  when  Mr. 
Wilson  of  N.  J.  moved  its  postponement  to 
the  5th  of  March — that  is,  to  the  end  of  the 
session — negatived  :  Yeas  14  ;  Nays  23. 

The  Senate  then  proceeded  to  vote  on 
agreeing  to  the  amendments  reported  by  the 
Select  Committee,  viz. :  1.  to  strike  out  of  the 
House  bill  the  following  : 

"  And  that  all  children  of  slaves  born  within 
the  said  State,  after  the  admission  thereof  into 
the  Union,  shall  be  free,  but  may  be  held  to  ser 
vice  until  the  age  of  twenty-one  years." 

Which  was  stricken   out  by  the  following 
vote  : 

YEAS — Against  the  Restriction: 

Messrs.  Barbour  of  Va         Leake  of  Miss. 
Crittendeu  of  Ky.     Macon  of  N.   C. 
Daggett  of  Conn.     Otis  of  Mass. 
Eaton  of  Teiin.         Palmer  of  Vt. 
Edwards  of  111.       Roberts  of  Penn. 
Eppes  of  Va.  Sanford  of  N.  Y. 

Promentin  of  La.    Tait,  of  Ga. 
Gaillard  of   S.  C.  Talbort  of  Ky. 
Goldsborough  Md.  Taylor  of  Ind. 
Horsey  of  Del.         Thomas  of  111. 
Johnson  of  La.         Trichenor  of  Vt. 
King  of  N.  Y.  Van  Dyke  of  Del. 

Lacock  of  Pa.         Williams  of  Miss. 
Williams  of  Tenn.— 27. 

NAYS— For  the  Restriction  : 

Messrs.  Burrill  of  R.  I.  Morrill  of  N.  H. 

Dickerson  of  N.  J.   Noble  of  Ind. 
Mellen  of  Mass.         Ruggles  of  Ohio. 
Wilson  of  N.  J.—7 

The  Senate  then  proceeded  to  vote  on  the 
residue  of  the  House  Restriction,  as  follows  : 

"  And  provided  also,  That  the  further  introduc 
tion  of  slavery  or  involuntary  servitude  be  pro 
hibited,  except  for  the  punishment  of  crimes, 
whereof  the  party  shall  have  been  duly  con 
victed." 

The  vote  on  this  clause  was  as  follows : 
YEAS— For  striking  out  the  Restriction  : 
Messrs.  Barbour  of  Va.      Leake  of  Miss. 
Crittenden  of  Ky.  Macon  of  N.  C. 
Eaton  of  Tenn.      Otis  of  Mass. 
Edwards  of  111.      Palmer  of  Vt. 
Eppes  of  Va.         Stokes  of  N.  C. 
Promentin  of  La.  Talbot  of  Ga. 
Gaillard  of  S.  C.    Tait  of  Ga. 
Goldsborough  Md.Thomas  of  111. 
Horsey  of  Del.       Van  Dyke  of  Del. 


Johnson  La. 
Lacock  of  Pa. 


Williams  of  Miss. 
Williams  of  Tenn.— 22. 


NAYS — Against  striking  out: 
Messrs.  Burrill  of  R.  I.  Noble  of  Ind. 

Daggett  of  Conn.      Roberts  of  Pa. 
Dana  of       do.          Ruggles  of  Ohio, 
Dickerson  of  N.  J.    Sanford  of  N.  Y. 


King  of  N.  Y.  Storer  of  N.  H. 

Mellen  of  Mass.  Taylor  of  Ind. 

Morrill  of  N.  H.  Tichenor  of  Vt. 

Morrow  of  Ohio,  Wilson  of  N.  J.—  16. 

The  bill  thus  amended  was  ordered  to  be 
engrossed,  and  was  (March  2nd  —  last  day  but 
one  of  the  Session)  read  a  third  time,  and 
passed  without  a  division.  The  bill  was  on 
that  day  returned  to  the  House,  and  the 
amendments  of  the  Senate  read  :  whereupon, 
Mr.  Tallmadge  of  N.  Y.  moved  that  the  bill  be 
postponed  indefinitely.  Yeas  69  ;  Nays  74. 

[The  record  shows  hardly  a  vote  changed  from 
Yea,  on  the  original  passage  of  the  Restriction,  to 
Nay  now,  but  many  members  who  voted  then 
were  now  absent  or  silent.] 

The  vote  was  then  taken  on  concurring  in 
the  Senate's  amendments,  as  aforesaid,  and 
the  House  refused  to  concur  :  Yeas  76  ; 

Nays  78. 

[Hardly  a  vote  changed  ;  but  more  Members 
voting  than  on  the  previous  division,  and  less 
than  when  the  Restriction  was  carried.] 

The  bill  was  now  returned  to  the  Senate, 
with  a  message  of  non-concurrence;  when 
Mr.  Tait  moved  that  the  Senate  adhere  to  its 
amendment,  which  was*  carried  without  a 
division.  The  bill  being  thus  remanded  to 
the  House,  Mr.  Taylor  of  N.  Y.  moved  that 
the  House  adhere  to  its  disagreement,  which 
prevailed.  Yeas  78  ;  Nays  66.  So  the 
bill  fell  between  the  two  Houses,  and  was 
lost. 


The  southern  portion  of  the  then  Territory 
of  Missouri  (organized  by  separation  from 
Louisiana  in  1812)  was  excluded  from  the 
proposed  State  of  Missouri,  and  organized  as 
a  separate  Territory,  entitled  Arkansas. 

The  bill  being  under  consideration,  Mr. 
Taylor  of  N.Y.  moved  that  the  foregoing  re 
striction  be  applied  to  it  also  ;  and  the  clause, 
proposing  that  slaves  born  therein  after  the 
passage  of  this  act  be  free  at  twenty-five 
years  of  age,  was  carried  (Feb.  17th)  by  75 
Yeas  to  73  Nays  ;  but  that  providing  against 
the  farther  introduction  of  slaves  was  lost  : 
Yeas  70  ;  Nays  71.  The  next  day,  the  clause 
just  adopted  was  stricken  out,  and  the  bill 
ultimately  passed  without  any  allusion  to 
Slavery.  Arkansas  of  course  became  a  Slave 
Territory  and  ultimately  (1836)  a  Slave 
State. 


VII. 

THE    SECOND    MISSOURI    STRUGGLE. 

A  new  Congress  assembled  on  the  6th  of 
December,  1819.  Mr.  Clay  was  again 
chosen  Speaker.  On  the  8th,  Mr.  Scott^ 
delegate  from  Missouri,  moved  that  the 
memorial  of  her  Territorial  Legislature,  as 
also  of  several  citizens,  praying  her  admis 
sion  into  the  Union  as  a  State,  be  referred  to 
a  select  committee ;  carried,  and  Messrs. 
Scott  of  Mo.,  Robertson  of  Ky.,  Terrell  of 


22 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  SLAVERY  RESTRICTION. 


Ga.,  S brother  of  Ya.,  and  De  Witt  of  N.  Y. 
(all  but  the  last  from  the  slave  region), 
were  appointed  said  committee. 

Mr.  Strong  of  N.  Y.  that  day  gave  no 
tice  of  a  bill  "  To  prohibit  the  further  exten 
sion  of  Slavery  in  the  United  States." 

On  the  14th,  Mr.  Taylor  of  N.  Y.  moved 
a  select  committee  on  this  subject,  which  was 
granted  ;  and  the  mover,  with  Messrs.  Liver- 
more  of  N.  H.,  Barbour  (P.  P.)  of  Va., 
Lowndes  of  S.  C.,  Fuller  of  Mass.,  Hardin 
of  Ky.,  and  Cuthbert  of  Ga.,  were  appointed 
such  committee.  A  majority  of  this  com 
mittee  being  Pro-Slavery,  Mr.  Taylor  could 
do  nothing  ;  and  on  the  28th  the  Committee 
was,  on  motion,  discharged  from  the  further 
consideration  of  the  subject. 

On  the  same  day  Mr.  Taylor  moved  : 

"  That  a  Committee  be  appointed  with  instruc 
tions  to  report  a  bill  prohibiting  the  further  ad 
mission  of  Slaves  into  the  Territories  of  the 
United  States  west  of  the  river  Mississippi.'1 

On  motion  of  Mr.  Smith,  of  Md.,  this  re 
solve  was  sent  to  the  Committee  of  the 
Whole,  and  made  a  special  order  for  Jan. 
10th  ;  but  it  was  n$t  taken  up,  and  appears 
to  have  slept  the  sleep  of  death. 

In  the  Senate,  the  memorial  of  the  Mis 
souri  Territorial  Legislature,  asking  admis 
sion  as  a  State,  was  presented  by  Mr.  Smith 
of  S.  0.,  Dec.  29th,  and  referred  to  the 
Judiciary  Committee,  which  consisted  of, 

Messrs.  Smith  of  S.  C.,  Leake  of  Miss.,  Bur- 
rill  of  II.  I.,  Logan  of  Ky.,  Otis  of  Mass. 

DANIEL  WEBSTER  ON  SLAVERY  EX 
TENSION. 

The  following  "  Memorial  to  the  Congress 
of  the  United  States,  on  the  subject  of  re 
straining  the  increase  of  Slavery  in  New 
States  to  be  admitted  into  the  Union,"  in 
pursuance  of  a  vote  of  the  inhabitants  of 
Boston  and  its  vicinity,  assembled  at  the 
State  House  on  the  3rd  of  December,  1819, 
was  drawn  up  by  Daniel  Webster,  and  signed 
by  himself,  George  Blake,  Josiah  Quincy, 
James  T.  Austin,  etc.  It  is  inserted  here 
instead  of  the  resolves  of  the  various  New 
England  Legislatures,  as  a  fuller  and  clearer 
statement  of  the  views  of  the  great  body  of 
the  people  of  that  section  during  the  pen 
dency  of  the  Missouri  question  : 

"  MEMORIAL 

"  To  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of 
t/ie  United  States,  in  Congress  assembled  : 

"  The  undersigned,  inhabitants  of  Boston  and 
its  vicinity,  beg  leave  most  respectfully  and  hum 
bly  lo  represent;  That  the  question  of  the  intro 
duction  of  Slavery  into  the  new  States  to  be 
formed  on  the  west  side  of  the  Mississippi  River, 
appears  to  them  to  be  a  question  of  the  last  im- 
nortancc  to  the  future  welfare  of  the  United  States. 
If  the  progress  of  this  great  evil  is  ever  to  be 
arrested,  it  seems  to  the  undersigned  that  this  is 
the  time  to  arrest  it.  A  false  step  taken  now, 


cannot  be  retraced  ;  and  it  appears  to  us  that  the 
happiness  of  unborn  millions  rests  on  the  measure 
which  Congress  on  this  occasion  may  adopt. 
Considering  this  as  no  local  question,  nor  a  ques 
tion  to  be  decided  by  a  temporary  expediency, 
but  as  involving  great  interests  of  the  whole 
United  States,  and  affecting  deeply  and  essentially 
those  objects  of  common  defense,  general  welfare, 
and  the  perpetuation  of  the  blessings  of  liberty, 
for  which  the  Constitution  itself  was  formed,  we 
have  presumed,  in  this  way,  to  offer  our  senti 
ments  and  express  our  wishes  to  the  National 
Legislature.  And  as  various  reasons  have  been 
suggested  against  prohibiting  Slavery  in  the  new 
States,  it  may  perhaps  be  permitted  to  us  to  state 
our  reasons,  both  for  believing  that  Congress 
possesses  the  constitutional  power  to  make  such 
prohibition  a  condition,  on  the  admission  of  a  new 
State  into  the  Union,  and  that  it  is  just  and  proper 
that  they  should  exercise  that  power. 

"  And  in  the  first  place,  as  to  the  constitutional 
authority  of  Congress.  The  Constitution  of  the 
United  States  has  declared  that  '  Congress  shall 
have  power  to  dispose  of  and  make  all  needful 
rules  and  regulations  respecting  the  territory  or 
other  property  belonging  to  the  United  States: 
and  nothing  in  this  Constitution  shall  be  so  con 
strued  as  to  prejudice  the  claims  of  the  United 
States  or  of  any  particular  State.'  It  ie  very  well 
known,  that  the  saving  in  this  clause  of  the  claims 
of  any  particular  State,  was  designed  to  apply  to 
claims  by  the  then  existing  States,  of  territory 
which  was  also  claimed  by  the  United  States  as 
their  own  property.  It  has,  therefore,  no  bearing 
on  the  present  question.  The  power,  then,  of 
Congress  over  its  own  territories,  is,  by  the  very 
terms  of  the  Constitution,  unlimited.  It  may  make 
all '  needful  rules  and  regulations,'  which  ot  course 
include  all  such  regulations  as  its  own  views  of 
policy  or  expediency  shall,  from  time  to  time,  dic 
tate.  If,  therefore,  in  its  judgment  it  be  needful 
for  the  benefit  of  a  territory  to  enact  a  prohibition 
of  Slavery,  it  would  seem  to  be  as  much  within 
its  power  of  legislation  as  any  other  act  of  local 
policy.  Its  sovereignty  being  complete  and  uni 
versal  as  to  the  territory,  it  may  exercise  over  it 
the  most  ample  jurisdiction  in  every  respect.  It 
possesses,  in  this  view,  all  the  authority  which 
any  State  Legislature  possesses  over  its  own  ter 
ritory;  and  if  any  State  Legislature  may,  in  ita 
discretion,  abolish  or  prohibit  Slavery  within  its 
own  limits,  in  virtue  of  its  general  legislative 
authority,  for  the  same  reason  Congress  also  may 
exercise  the  like  authority  over  its  own  territories. 
And  that  a  State  Legislature,  unless  restrained  by 
some  constitutional  provision,  may  so  do,  is  un 
questionable,  and  has  been  established  by  general 
practice.  *  *  * 

"  The  creation  of  a  new  State,  is,  in  effect,  a 
compact  between  Congress  and  the' inhabitants 
of  the  proposed  State.  Congress  would  not  prob 
ably  claim  the  power  of  compelling  the  inha 
bitants  of  Missouri  to  form  a  Constitution  of  their 
own,  and  come  into  the  Union  as  a  State.  It  is  as 
plain,  that  the  inhabitants  of  that  territory  have 
no  right  of  admission  into  the  Union,  as  n  State, 
without  the  consent  of  Congress.  Neither  party 
is  bound  to  form  this  connection.  It  can  be  formed 
only  by  the  consent  of  both.  What,  then,  pre 
vents  Congress,  as  one  of  the  stipulating  parties, 
to  propose  its  terms  ?  And  if  the  other  party 
assents  to  these  terms,  why  do  they  not  effectually 
bind  both  parties  ?  Or  if  the  inhabitants  of  tho 
Territory  do  not  choose  to  accept  the  proposed 
terms,  but  prefer  to  remain  under  a  Territorial 
Government,  has  Congress  deprived  them  of  any 
right,  or  subjected  them  to  any  restraint,  which, 
in  its  discretion,  it  had  no  authority  to  do?  If 
the  admission  of  new  States  be  not  the  discretion 
ary  exercise  of  a  constitutional  power,  but  in  all 
cases  an  imperative  duty,  how  is  it  to  be  per- 


THE  SECOND  MISSOURI  STRUGGLE. 


formed  ?  If  the  Constitution  means  that  Congress 
shall  admit  new  States,  does  it  mean  that  Con 
gress  shall  do  this  on  every  application  and  under 
all  circumstances?  Or  if  this  construction  cannot 
be  admitted,  and  if  it  must  be  conceded  that 
Congress  must  in  some  respects  exercise  its  dis 
cretion  on  the  admission  of  new  States,  how  is  it 
to  be  shown  that  that  discretion  may  not  be  exer 
cised  in  regard  to  this  subject  as  well  as  in  regard 
to  others  ? 

'•  The  Constitution  declares,  '  that  the  migration 
or  importation  of  such  persons  as  any  of  the  States 
now  existing i  shall  think  proper  to  admit,  shall 
not  be  prohibited  by  the  Congress,  prior  to  the 
year  1808.'  It.  is  most  manifest  that  the  Constitu 
tion  does  contemplate,  in  the  very  terms  of  this 
clause,  that  Congress  possesses  the  authority  to 
prohibit  the  migration  or  importation  of  slaves ; 
for  it  limits  the  exercise  of  this  authority  for  a 
specific  period  of  time,  leaving  it  to  its  full  opera 
tion  ever  afterward.  And  this  power  seems  ne 
cessarily  included  in  the  authority  which  belongs 
to  Congress,  '  to  regulate  commerce  with  foreign 
nations  and  among  the  several  States'  No  person 
has  ever  doubted  that  the  prohibition  of  tho  foreign 
slave  trade  was  completely  within  the  authority 
of  Congress  since  the  year  1808.  And  why  ?  Cer 
tainly  only  because  it  is  embraced  in  the  regula 
tion  of  foreign  commerce;  and  if  so,  it  may  for 
the  like  reason  be  prohibited  since  that  period 
between  the  States.  Commerce  in  slaves,  since 
the  year  1808,  being  as  much  subject  to  the  regu 
lation  of  Congress  as  any  other  commerce,  if  it 
should  see  fit  to  enact  that  no  slave  should  ever 
be  sold  from  one  State  to  another,  it  is  not  per 
ceived  how  its  constitutional  right  to  make  such 
provision  could  be  questioned.  It  would  seem  to 
be  too  plain  to  be  questioned,  that  Congress  did 
possess  the  power,  before  the  year  1808,  to  pro 
hibit  the  migration  or  importation  of  slaves  irrto 
the  territories  (and  in  point  of  fact  it  exercised 
that  power)  as  well  as  into  any  new  States  ;  and 
that  its  authority,  after  that  year,  might  be  as 
fully  exercised  to  prevent  the  migration  or  import 
ation  of  slaves  into  any  of  the  old  States.  And 
if  it  may  prohibit  new  States  from  importing 
slaves,  it  may  surely,  as  we  humbly  submit,  make 
it  a  condition  of  the  admission  of  such  States  into 
the  Union,  that  they  shall  never  import  them. 
In  relation,  too,  to  its  own  Territories,  Congress 
possesses  a  more  extensive  authority,  and  may,  in 
various  other  ways,  effect  the  object.  It  might, 
for  example,  make  it  an  express  condition  of  its 
grants  of  the  soil,  that  its  owners  shall  never  hold 
slaves ;  and  thus  prevent  the  possession  of  slaves 
from  ever  being  connected  with  the  ownership  of 
the  soil. 

"  As  corroborative  of  the  views  which  have 
been  already  suggested,  the  memorialists  would 
respectfully  call  the  attention  of  Congress  to  the 
history  of  the  national  legislation,  under  the  Con 
federation  as  well  as  under  the  present  Constitu 
tion,  on  this  interfering  subject.  Unless  the  me 
morialists  greatly  mistake,  it  will  demonstrate  the 
sense  of  the  nation,  at  every  period  of  its  legisla 
tion,  to  have  been,  that  the  prohibition  of  Slavery 
was  no  infringement  of  any  just  rights  belonging 
to  free  States,  and  was  not  incompatible  with  the 
enjoyments  of  all  the  rights  and  immunities  which 
an  admission  into  the  Union  was  supposed  to 
confer. 

"The  memorialists,  after  this  general  survey, 
would  respectfully  ask  the  attention  of  Congress 
to  the  state  of  the  question  of  the  right  of  Con 
gress  to  prohibit  Slavery  in  that  part  of  the  former 
Territory  of  Louisiana  which  now  forms  the  Mis 
souri  Territory.  Louisiana  was  purchased  of 
France  by  the  Treaty  of  the  30th  April,  1803. 
The  third  article  of  that  Treaty  is  as  follows  :  '  The 
inhabitants  of  the  ceded  Territory  shall  be  incor 
porated  into  the  Union  of  the  United  States,  and 


admitted  as  soon  as  possible,  according  to  the 
principles  of  the  Federal  Constitution,  to  the  en 
joyment  of  all  the  rights,  advantages,  and  im 
munities  of  citizens  of  the  United  States  ;  and  in 
the  mean  time  they  shall  be  maintained  and  pro 
tected  in  the  free  enjoyment  of  their  liberty,  pro 
perty,  and  the  religion  which  they  profess.' 

"  Although  the  language  of  this  article  is  not 
very  precise  or  accurate,  the  memorialists  con 
ceive  that  its  real  import  and  intent  cannot  be 
mistaken.  The  first  clause  provides  for  the  ad 
mission  of  the  ceded  territory  into  the  Union, 
and  the  succeeding  clause  shows  this  must  bo 
according  to  the  principles  of  the.  Federal  Con 
stitution;  and  this  very  qualification  necessarily 
excludes  the  idea  that  Congress  were  not  to  be  at 
liberty  to  impose  any  conditions  upon  such  ad 
mission  which  were  consistent  with  the  principles 
of  that  Constitution,  and  which  had  been,  or 
might  justly  be,  applied  to  other  nciv  States, 
The  language  is  not  by  any  means  so  pointed  as 
that  of  the  Resolve  of  1780  ;  and  yet  it  has  been 
seen  that  that  Resolve  was  never  supposed  to 
inhibit  the  authority  of  Congress,  as  to  the  intro 
duction  of  slavery.  And  it  is  clear,  upon  the 
plainest  rule  of  construction,  that  in  the  absence 
of  all  restrictive  language  a  clause  merely  pro 
viding  for  the  admission  of  a  territory  into  tho 
Union,  must  be  construed  to  authorize  an  admis 
sion  in  the  manner,  and  tipon  the  terms,  which 
the  Constitution  itself  would  justify.  This  con 
struction  derives  additional  support  from  the  next 
clause.  The  inhabitants  '  shall  be  admitted  as 
soon  as  possible,  according  to  the  principles  of 
the  Federal  Constitution,  to  the  enjoyment  of  all 
the  rights,  advantages,  and  immunities  of  citizens 
of  the  United  States.'  The  rights,  advantages, 
and  immunities  here  spoken  of,  must,  from  the 
very  force  of  the  terms  of  the  clause,  be  such  as 
are  recognized  or  communicated  by  the  Consti 
tution  of  the  United  States ;  such  as  are  common 
to  all  citizens,  and  are  uniform  throughout  the 
United  States.  The  clause  cannot  be  referred  to 
rights,  advantages,  and  immunities  derived  ex 
clusively  from  the  State  Government,  for  these 
do  not  depend  upon  the  Federal  Constitution. 
Besides,  it  would  be  impossible  that  all  the  rights, 
advantages,  and  immunities  of  citizens  of  the 
different  States,  could  be  at  the  same  time  enjoyed 
by  the  same  persons.  These  rights  are  different 
in  different  States ;  a  right  exists  in  one  State 
which  is  denied  in  others,  or  is  repugnant  to  other 
rights  enjoyed  in  others.  In  some  of  the  States, 
a  freeholder  alone  is  entitled  to  vote  in  elections ; 
in  some  a  qualification  of  personal  property  is 
sufficient;  and  in  others,  age  and  freedom  are 
the  sole  qualifications  of  electors.  In  some  States, 
no  citizen  is  permitted  to  hold  slaves  :  in  others, 
he  possesses  that  power  absolutely  ;  in  others,  it 
is  limited.  The  obvious  meaning,  therefore,  of 
the  clause  is,  that  the  rights  derived  under  the 
Federal  Constitution,  shall  be  enjoyed  by  the  in 
habitant  of  Louisiana  in  the  same  manner  as  by 
the  citizens  of  other  States.  The  United  States, 
by  the  Constitution,  are  bound  to  guarantee  to 
every  State  in  the  Union  a  republican  form  of 
government;  and  the  inhabitants  of  Louisiana 
are  entitled,  when  a  State,  to  this  guarantee. 
Each  State  has  a  right  to  two  Senators,  and  to 
Representatives  according  to  a  certain  enumera 
tion  of  population,  pointed  out  in  the  Constitution. 
The  inhabitants  of  Louisiana,  upon  their  admis 
sion  into  the  Union,  are  also  entitled  to  these 
privileges.  The  Constitution  further  declares, 
'  that  the  citizens  of  each  State  shall  be  entitled 
to  all  the  privileges  and  immunities  of  citizens  in 
the  several  States.'  It  would  seem  as  if  the  mean 
ing  of  this  clause  could  not  well  be  misinterpreted. 
It  obviously  applies  to  the  case  of  the  removal  of 
a  citizen  of  one  State  to  another  State ;  and  in 
such  a  case  it  secures  to  the  migrating  citizen  all 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  SLAVERY  RESTRICTION. 


the  privileges  and  immunities  of  citizens  in  the 
State  to  which  he  removes.  It  cannot  surely  be 
contended,  upon  any  rational  interpretation,  that 
it  gives  to  the  citizens  of  each  State  all  the  privi 
leges  and  immunities  of  the  citizens  of  every  other 
State,  at  the  same  time,  and  under  all  circum 
stances.  Such  a  construction  would  lead  to  the 
most  extraordinary  consequences.  It  would  at 
once  destroy  all  the  fundamental  limitations  of 
the  State  constitutions  upon  the  rights  of  their 
own  citizens ;  and  leave  all  those  rights  to  the 
mercy  of  the  citizens  of  any  other  State,  which 
should  adopt  different  limitations.  According  to 
this  construction,  if  all  the  State  constitutions, 
gave  one,  prohibited  slavery,  it  would  be  in  the 
power  of  that  single  State,  by  the  admission  of 
the  right  of  its  citizens  to  hold  slaves,  to  commu 
nicate  the  same  right  to  the  citizens  of  all  the 
other  States  within  their  own  exclusive  limits,  in 
defiance  of  their  own  constitutional  prohibitions  ; 
and  to  render  the  absurdity  still  more  apparent, 
the  same  construction  would  communicate  the 
most  opposite  and  irreconcilable  rights  to  the 
citizens  of  different  States  at  the  same  time.  It 
seems,  therefore,  to  be  undeniable,  upon  any  ra 
tional  interpretation,  that  this  clause  of  the  Con 
stitution  communicated  no  rights  in  any  State 
which  its  own  citizens  do  not  enjoy ;  and  that  the 
citizens  of  Louisiana,  upon  their  admission  into 
the  Union,  in  receiving  the  benefit  of  this  clause, 
would  not  enjoy  higher  or  more  extensive  rights 
than  the  citizens  of  Ohio.  It  would  communicate 
to  the  former  no  right  of  holding  slaves  except  in 
States  where  the  citizens  already  possessed  the 
same  right  under  their  own  State  Constitutions 
and  law's.  *  *  * 

"  Upon  the  whole,  the  memorialists  would  most 
respectfully  submit  that  the  terms  of  the  Consti 
tution,  as  well  as  the  practice  of  the  Governments 
under  it,  must,  as  they  humbly  conceive,  entirely 
justify  the  conclusion  that  Congress  may  pro 
hibit  the  further  introduction  of  Slavery  into  its 
own  territories,  and  also  make  such  prohibition  a 
condition  of  the  admission  of  any  new  State  into 
the  Union. 

"If  the  constitutional  power  of  Congress  to 
make  the  proposed  prohibition  be  satisfactorily 
shown,  the  justice  and  policy  of  such  prohibition 
seem  to  the  undersigned  to  be  supported  by  plain 
and  strong  reasons.  The  permission  of  Slavery 
in  a  new  State,  necessarily  draws  after  it  an  ex 
tension  of  that  inequality  of  representation,  which 
already  exists  in  regard  to  the  original  States. 
It  cannot  be  expected  that  those  of  the  original 
States,  which  do  not  hold  slaves,  can  look  on 
such  an  extension  as  being  politically  just.  As 
between  the  original  States  the  representation 
rests  on  compact  and  plighted  faith ;  and  your 
memorialists  have  no  wish  that  that  compact 
should  be  disturbed,  or  that  plighted  faith  in  the 
slightest  degree  violated.  But  the  subject  as 
sumes  an  entirely  different  character,  when  anew 
State  proposes  to  be  admitted.  With  her  there  is 
no  compact,  and  no  faith  plighted  ;  and  where  is 
the  reason  that  she  should  come  into  the  Union 
with  more  than  an  equal  share  of  political  im 
portance  and  political  power  ?  Already  the  ratio 
of  representation,  established  by  the  Constitution, 
has  given  to  the  States  holding  slaves  twenty 
members  of  the  House  of  Representatives  more 
than  they  would  have  been  entitled  to,  except 
under  the  particular  provision  of  the  Constitution. 
In  all  probability,  this  number  will  be  doubled 
in  thirty  years.  Under  these  circumstances,  we 
deem  it  not  an  unreasonable  expectation  that  the 
inhabitants  of  Missouri  should  propose  to  come 
into  the  Union,  renouncing  the  right  in  question, 
and  establishing  a  constitution  prohibiting  it  for 
ever.  Without  dwelling  on  this  topic,  we  have 
still  thought  it  our  duty  to  present  it  to  the  con 
sideration  of  Congress.  Wo  present  it  with  a 


deep  and  earnest  feeling  of  its  importance,  and  we 
respectfully  solicit  for  it  the  full  consideration  of 
the  National  Legislature. 

"  Your  memorialists  were  not  without  the  hope 
that  the  time  had  at  length  arrived  when  the  in 
convenience  and  the  danger  of  this  description 
of  population  had  become  apparent  in  all  parts 
of  this  country,  and  in  all  parts  of  the  civilized 
world.  It  might  have  been  hoped  that  the  new 
States  themselves  would  have  had  such  a  view  of 
their  own  permanent  interests  and  prosperity  as 
would  have  led  them  to  prohibit  its  extension  and 
increase.  The  wonderful  increase  and  prosperity 
of  the  States  north  of  the  Ohio  is  unquestionably 
to  be  ascribed,  in  a  great  measure,  to  the  conse 
quences  of  the  ordinance  of  1787  ;  and  few,  in 
deed,  are  the  occasions,  in  the  history  of  nations, 
in  which  so  much  can  be  done,  by  a  single  act, 
for  the  benefit  of  future  generations,  as  was  done 
by  that  ordinance,  and  as  may  now  be  done  by 
the  Congress  of  the  United  States.  We  appeal 
to  the  justice  and  to  the  wisdom  of  the  National 
Councils  to  prevent  the  further  progress  of  a 
great  and  serious  evil.  We  appeal  to  those  who 
look  forward  to  the  remote  consequences  of  their 
measures,  and  who  cannot  balance  a  temporary 
or  trifling  convenience,  if  there  were  such,  against 
a  permanent,  growing,  and  desolating  evil.  We 
cannot  forbear  to  remind  the  two  Houses  of  Con 
gress  that  the  early  and  decisive  measures  adopt 
ed  by  the  American  Government  for  the  abolition 
of  the  slave-trade,  are  among  the  proudest  memo 
rials  of  our  nation's  glory.  That  Slavery  was  ever 
tolerated  in  the  Republic  is,  as  yet,  to  be  attrib 
uted  to  the  policy  of  another  Government.  No 
imputation,  thus  far,  rests  on  any  portion  of  the 
American  Confederacy.  The  Missouri  Territory 
is  a  new  country.  If  its  extensive  and  fertile 
field  shall  be  opened  as  a  market  for  slaves,  the 
Government  will  seem  to  become  a  party  to  a 
traffic  which,  in  so  many  acts,  through  so  many 
years,  it  has  denounced  as  impolitic,  unchristian, 
inhuman.  To  enact  laws  to  punish  the  traffic, 
and,  at  the  same  time,  to  tempt  cupidity  and  ava 
rice  by  the  allurements  of  an  insatiable  market, 
is  inconsistent  and  irreconcilable.  Government, 
by  such  a  course,  would  only  defeat  its  own  pur 
poses,  and  render  nugatory  its  own  measures. 
Nor  can  the  laws  derive  support  from  the  man 
ners  of  the  people,  if  the  power  of  moral  senti 
ment  be  weakened  by  enjoying,  under  the  per 
mission  of  Government,  great  facilities  to  com 
mit  offenses.  The  laws  of  the  United  States  have 
denounced  heavy  penalties  against  the  traffic  in 
slaves,  because  such  traffic  is  deemed  unjust  and 
inhuman.  We  appeal  to  the  spirit  of  these  laws : 
We  appeal  to  this  justice  and  humanity :  We 
ask  whether  they  ought  not  to  operate,  on  the 
present  occasion ,  with  all  their  force  ?  We  have 
a  strong  feeling  of  the  injustice  of  any  toleration 
of  Slavery.  Circumstances  have  entailed  it  on 
a  portion  of  our  community,  which  cannot  be  im 
mediately  relieved  from  it  without  consequences 
more  injurious  than  the  suffering  of  the  evil.  But 
to  permit  it  in  a  new  country,  where  yet  no  hab 
its  are  formed  which  render  it  indispensable,  what 
is  it,  but  to  encourage  that  rapacity,  and  fraud, 
and  violence,  against  which  we  have  so  long 
pointed  the  denunciations  of  our  penal  code? 
What  is  it,  but  to  tarnish  the  proud  fame  of  the 
country  ?  What  is  it,  but  to  throw  suspicion  on 
its  good  faith,  and  to  render  questionable  all  its 
professions  of  regard  for  the  right  of  humani 
ty  and  the  liberties  of  mankind  ? 

"  As  inhabitants  of  a  free  country — as  citizens 
of  a  great  and  rising  Republic — as  members  of  a 
Christian  community — as  living  in  a  liberal  and 
enlightened  age,  and  as  feeling  ourselves  called 
upon  by  the  dictates  of  religion  and  humanity, 
we  have  presumed  to  offer  our  sentiments  to 
Congress  on  this  question,  with  a  solicitude  for 


THE  SECOND  MISSOURI  STRUGGLE. 


25 


the  event  far  beyond  what  a  common  occasion 
could  inspire." 

Instead  of  reprinting  the  Speeches  elicited 
by  this  fruitful  theme,  which  must  necessarily, 
to  a  great  extent,  be  a  mere  reproduction  of 
ideas  expressed  in  the  debate  of  the  last  ses 
sion,  already  given,  we  here  insert  the  Re 
solves  of  the  Legislatures  of  New-York, 
New- Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Delaware,  and 
Kentucky — the  first  three  being  unanimous 
expressions  in  favor  of  Slavery  Restriction  ; 
the  fourth,  from  a  Slave  State,  also  in  favor 
of  such  Restriction,  though  probably  not 
unanimously  agreed  to  by  the  Legislature  ; 
the  last  against  Restriction,  and  also  (we 
presume)  unanimous.  The  Legislatures  of 
the  Free  States  were  generally  unanimous 
for  Restriction  ;  those  of  the  Slave  States 
(Delaware  excepted)  unanimous  against  it. 
It  is  not  deemed  necessary  to  print  more 
than  the  following  : 

NEW  YORK. 

"  State  of  New- York,  in  Assembly,  Jan.   17, 

1820: 

"  Whereas.  The  inhibiting  the  further  extension 
of  Slavery  in  these  United  States  is  a  subject  of 
deep  concern  among  the  people  of  this  State  ;  and 
whereas  we  consider  Slavery  as  an  evil  much  to 
be  deplored  ;  and  that  every  constitutional  barrier 
should  be  interposed  to  prevent  its  further  exten 
sion  ;  and  that  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  clearly  gives  Congress  the  right  to  require 
of  new  States,  not  comprised  with  the  original 
boundaries  of  these  United  States,  the  prohibition 
of  Slavery,  as  a  condition  of  its  admission  into  the 
Union  :  Therefore,  ~N^ 

"Resolved  (if  the  honorable  the  Senate  concur 
herein),  That  our  Senators  be  instructed,  and  our 
Representatives  in  Congress  be  requested,  to  op 
pose  the  admission  as  a  State  into  the  Union,  any 
territory  not  comprised  as  aforesaid,  without 
making  the  prohibition  of  Slavery  therein  an  in 
dispensable  condition  of  admission  :  therefore, 

"Resolved,  That  measures  be  taken  by  the  clerks 
of  the  Senate  and  Assembly  of  this  State,  to  trans 
mit  copies  of  the  preceding  resolutions  to  each  of 
our  Senators  and  Representatives  in  Congress." 

[Unanimously  concurred  in  by  the  Seriate.] 

NEW  JERSEY. 

HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES,  > 
January  24th,  1820.  $ 

Mr.  Wilson  of  N.  J.  communicated  the 
following  Resolutions  of  the  Legislature  of 
the  State  of  New- Jersey,  which  were  read  : 

"  Whereas.  A  Bill  is  now  depending  in  the  Con 
gress  of  the  United  States,  on  the  application  of 
the  people  in  the  Territory  of  Missouri  for  the  ad 
mission  of  that  Territory  as  a  State  into  the  Union, 
not  containing  provisions  against  hlavery  in  such 
proposed  State,  and  a  question  is  made  upon  the 
right  and  expediency  of  such  provision. 

•'  The  representatives  of  the  people  of  New-Jer 
sey,  in  the  Legislative  Council  and  General 
Assembly  of  the  said  State,  now  in  session,  deem 
it  a  duty  they  owe  to  themselves,  to  their  constitu 
ents,  and  posterity,  to  declare  and  make  known 
the  opinions  they  hold  upon  this  momentous  sub 
ject  :  and, 

"1 .  They  do  resolve,  and  declare,  That  the  furl  her 
admission  of  Territories  into  the  Union,  without 


restriction  of  Slavery,  would,  in  their  opinion,  es 
sentially  impair  the  right  of  this  and  other  existing 
States  to  equal  representation  in  Congress  (a  right 
at  the  foundation  of  the  political  compact),  inas 
much  as  such  newly-admitted  slaveholding  State 
would  be  represented  on  the  basis  ot  their  slave 
population  ;  a  concession  made  at  the  formation 
of  the  Constitution  in  favor  of  the  then  existing 
States,  but  never  stipulated  for  new  States,  nor  to 
be  inferred  from  any  article  or  clause  in  that  in 
strument. 

"  2.  Resolved,  That  to  admit  the  Territory  of 
Missouri  as  a  State  into  the  Union,  without  pro 
hibiting  Slavery  there,  would,  in  the  opinion  of  the 
representatives  of  the  people  of  New-Jersey  afore 
said,  be  no  less  than  to  sanction  this  great  politi 
cal  and  moral  evil,  furnish  the  ready  means  of 
peopling  a  vast  Territory  with  Slaves,  and  per 
petuate  all  the  dangers,  crimes,  and  pernicious 
effects  of  domestic  bondage. 

"  3.  Resolved,  As  the  opinion  of  the  Representa 
tives  aforesaid,  That  inasmuch  as  no  Territory 
has  a  right  to  be  admitted  into  the  Union,  but  on 
theprinciples  of  the  Federal  Constitution,  and  only 
by  a  law  of  Congress,  consenting  thereto  on  the 
part  of  the  existing  States,  Congress  may  rightful 
ly,  and  ought  to  re-fuse  such  law,  unless  upon  the 
reasonable  and  just  conditions,  assented  to  on  the 
part  of  the  people  applying  to  become  one  of  the 
States. 

"  4.  Resolved,  In  the  opinion  of  the  Representa 
tives  aforesaid,  That  the  article  of  the  Constitution 
which  restrains  Congress  from  prohibiting  the 
migration  or  importation  of  Slaves,  until  after  the 
year  1808,  does,  by  necessary  implication,  admit 
the  general  power  of  Congress  over  the  subject 
of  Slavery,  and  concedes  to  them  the  right  to  regu 
late  and  restrain  such  migration  and  importation 
after  that  time,  into  the  existing,  or  any  newly -to- 
be  created  State. 

"5.  Resolved,  As  the  opinion  of  the  Representa 
tives  of  the  people  of  New- Jersey  aforesaid,  That 
inasmuch  as  Congress  have  a  clear  right  to  refuse 
the  admission  of  a  Territory  into  the  Union,  by 
the  terms  of  the  Constitution,  they  ought  in  the 
present  case  to  exercise  that  absolute  discretion 
m  order  to  preserve  the  political  rights  of  the 
several  existing  States,  and  prevent  the  great 
national  disgrace  and  multiplied  mischiefs,  which 
must  ensue  from  conceding  it,  as  a  matter  of  right, 
in  the  immense  Territories  yet  to  claim  admission 
into  the  Union,  beyond  the  Mississippi,  that  they 
may  tolerate  Slavery. 

"  6.  Resolved,  (with  the  concurrence  of  Council,) 
That  the  Governor  of  this  State  be  requested  to 
transmit  a  copy  of  the  foregoing  resolutions  to 
each  of  the  Senators  and  Representatives  of  this 
State  in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States." 


PENNSYLVANIA. 

HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES, 
December  1 1th,  1819. 

A  motion  was  made  by  Mr.  Duane  and 
Mr.  Thackara,  and  read  as  follows  : 

"  The  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of 
the  Commonwealth  of  Pennsylvania,  while  they 
cherish  the  right  of  the  individual  Stales  to  ex 
press  their  opinion  upon  all  public  measures  pro 
posed  in  the  Congress  of  the  Union,  are  aware 
that  its  usefulness  must  in  a  great  degree  depend 
upon  the  discretion  with  which  it  is  exercised; 
they  believe  that  the  right  ought  not  to  be  resorted 
to  upon  trivial  subjects  or  unimportant  occasions ; 
but  they  are  also  persuaded  that  there  are  mo 
ments  when  the  neglect  to  exercise  it  would  be  a 
dereliction  of  public  duty. 

"  Such  an  occasion,  as  in  their  judgment  de 
mands  the  frank  expression  of  the  sentiments  of 
Pennsylvania,  is  now  presented.  A  measure  was 


26 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  SLAVERY  RESTRICTION. 


ardently  supported  in  the  last  Congress  of  the 
United 'States,  and  will  probably  be  as  earnestly 
urged  during  the  existing  session  of  that  body, 
•which  has  a  palpable  tendency  to  impair  the  po 
litical  relations  of  the  several  States  ;  which  is  cal 
culated  to  mar  the  social  happiness  of  the  present 
and  future  generations  ;  which,  if  adopted,  would 
impede  the  inarch  of  humanity  and  Freedom 
through  the  world;  and  would  transfer  from  a 
misguided  ancestry  an  odious  stain  and  fix  it  in 
delibly  upon  the  "present  race— a  measure,  in 
brief,  which  proposes  to  spread  the  crimes  and 
cruelties  of  Slavery  from  the  banks  of  the  Missis 
sippi  to  the  shores  of  the  Pacific.  When  a  mea 
sure  of  this  character  is  seriously  advocated  in 
the  republican  Congress  of  America,  in  the  nine 
teenth  century,  the  several  States  are  invoked  by 
the  duty  which  they  owe  to  the  Deity,  by  the 
veneration  which  they  entertain  for  the  memory 
of  the  founders  of  the  Republic,  and  by  a  tender 
regard  for  posterity,  to  protest  against  its"  adoption, 
to  refuse  to  covenant  with  crime,  and  to  limit  the 
range  of  an  evil  that  already  hangs  in  awful  bod 
ing  over  so  large  a  portion  of  the  Union. 

"  Nor  can  such  a  protest  be  entered  by  any 
State  with  greater  propriety  than  by  Pennsylvania. 
This  commonwealth  has  as  sacredly  respected  the 
rights  of  other  States  as  it  has  been  careful  of  its 
own ;  it  has  been  the  invariable  aim  of  the  people 
of  Pennsylvania  to  extend  to  the  universe,  by  their 
example,  the  unadulterated  blessings  of  civil  aud 
religious  freedom ;  and  it  is  their  pride  that  they 
have  been  at  all  times  the  practical  advocates  of 
tho?e  improvements  and  charities  among  men 
•which  are  so  well  calculated  to  enable  them  to  an 
swer  the  purposes  of  their  Creator  ;  and  above  all, 
they  may  boast  that  they  were  foremost  in  re 
moving  the  pollution  of  Slavery  from  among 
them. 

'•  If,  indeed,  the  measure,  against  which  Penn 
sylvania  considers  it  her  duty  to  raise  her  voice, 
were  calculated  to  abridge  any  of  the  rights  guar 
anteed  to  the  several  States ;  if,  odious  as  Slave 
ry  is,  it  was  proposed  to  hasten  its  extinction  by 
means  injurious  to  the  States  upon  which  it  was 
unhappily  entailed,  Pennsylvania  would  be 
among  the  first  to  insist  upon  a  sacred  observ 
ance  of  the  constitutional  compact.  But  it  can 
not  be  pretended  that  the  rights  of  any  of  the 
States  are  at  all  to  be  affected  by  refusing  to  ex 
tend  the  mischiefs  of  human  bondage  over  the 
boundless  regions  of  the  West,  a  territory  which 
formed  no  part  of  the  Union  at  the  adoption  of 
the  Constitution  :  which  has  been  but  lately  pur 
chased  from  a  European  Power  by  the  people  of 
the  Union  at  large ;  which  may  or  may  not  be  ad 
mitted  as  a  State  into  the  Union  at  the  discretion 
of  Congress ;  which  must  establish  a  republican 
form  of  Government,  and  no  other;  and  whose 
climate  affords  none  of  the  pretexts  urged  for  re 
sorting  to  the  labor  of  natives  of  the  torrid  'zone; 
such  a  territory  has  no  right,  inherent  or  acquired, 
such  as  those  States  possessed  which  established 
the  existing  Constitution.  When  that  Constitu 
tion  was  framed  in  September,  1787,  the  conces 
sion  that  three-fifths  oi  the  slaves  in  the  States 
then  existing  should  be  represented  in  Congress, 
could  not  have  been  intended  to  embrace  regions 
at  that  time  held  by  a  foreign  power.  On  the  con 
trary,  so  anxious  were  the  Congress  of  that  day 
to  confine  human  bondage  within  its  ancient 
home,  that  on  the  13th  of  July,  1787,  that  body 
unanimously  declared  that  Slavery  or  involuntary 
servitude  should  not  exist  in  the  extensive  terri 
tories  bounded  by  the  Ohio,  the  Mississippi, 
Canada  and  the  Lakes  ;  and  in  the  ninth  article 
of  the  Constitution  itself,  the  power  of  Congress 
5  o  PQrohibit  the  emigration  of  servile  persons  after 
1808,  is  expressly  recognized ;  nor  is  there  to  be 
found  in  the  statute-book  a  single  instance  of  the 
admission  of  a  Territory  to  the  rank  of  a  State  in 
which  Congress  have  not  adhered  to  the  right, 


vested  in  them  by  the  Constitution,  to  stipulate 
with  the  Territory  upon  the  conditions  of  the 
boon. 

'•  The  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of 
Pennsylvania,  therefore,  cannot  but  deprecate 
anv  departure  from  the  humane  and  enlightened 
policy  pursued  not  only  by  the  illustrious  Con 
gress  which  framed  the  "Constitution,  but  by  their 
successors  without  exception.  They  are  persuad 
ed  that,  to  open  the  fertile  regions  of  the  West  to 
a  servile  race,  would  tend  to  increase  their  num 
bers  beyond  all  past  example,  would  open  a  new 
and  steady  market  for  the  lawless  venders  of  hu 
man  flesh,  and  would  render  all  schemes  for  oblit 
erating  this  most  foul  blot  upon  the  American 
character  useless  and  unavailing. 

"  Under  these  convictions,  and  in  the  full  per 
suasion  that  upon  this  topic  there  is  but  one  opin 
ion  in  Pennsylvania — 

"  Resolved  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Repre 
sentatives  of  the  Commonwealth  of  Pennsylvania, 
That  the  Senators  of  this  State  in  the  Congress  of 
the  United  States  be,  and  they  are  hereby  in 
structed,  and  that  the  Representatives  of  this 
State  in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  be,  and 
they  are  hereby  requested,  to  vote  against  the  ad 
mission  of  any'Territory  as  a  State  into  the  Union, 
unless  said  Territory  shall  stipulate  and  agree 
that  '  the  further  introduction  of  Slavery  or  in 
voluntary  servitude,  except  for  the  punishment  of 
crimes  whereof  the  party  shall  have  been  duly 
convicted,  shall  he  prohibited  ;  and  that  all  chil 
dren  born  within  the  said  Territory,  after  its  ad 
mission  into  the  Union  as  a  State,  shall  be  free, 
but  may  be  held  to  service  until  the  age  of  twen 
ty-five  years.' 

"Resoli-ed,  That  the  Governor  be,  and  he  ia 
hereby  requested  to  cause  a  copy  of  the  foregoing 
preamble  and  resolution  to  be  transmitted  to  such 
of  the  Senators  and  Representatives  of  this  State 
in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States. 

"  Laid  on  the  table.'' 

"  THURSDAY,  December  16,  1819. 

"  Agreeably  to  the  order  of  the  day,  the  House 
resumed  the  consideration  of  the  resolutions  post 
poned  on  the  14th  inst.,  relative  to  preventing  the 
introduction  of  Slavery  into  States  hereafter  to  be 
admitted  into  the  Union.  And  on  the  question, 
4  Will  the  House  agree  to  the  resolution  V  the 
Yeas  and  Nays  were  required  by  Mr.  Randall  and 
Mr.  Souder.  and  stood — Yeas,  74 — (54  Democrats, 
20  Federalists)  ;  Nays,  none.  Among  the  Yeas 
were  David  R.  Porter,  late  Governor,  Josiah 
Randall  of  Philadelphia,  now  a  Whig  supporter 
of  Buchanan,  William  Wilkins,  late  minister  to 
Russia,  now  in  the  State  Senate,  Dr.  Daniel 
Sturgeon,  late  U.  S.  Senator,  etc- ,  etc.  William 
Duane,  editor  of  The  Aurora,  then  the  Demo 
cratic  Organ,  also  voted  for  the  resolutions, 


as 
thev 


he  had  prominently  advocated  the   principle 
y  asserted. 

"  The  Senate  unanimously  concurred,  and  the 
Resolves  were  signed  by  Gov.  William  Findlay." 


DELAWARE. 

In  Senate  of  the  United  States,  early  in 
1820,  Mr.  Van  Dyke  communicated  the  fol 
lowing  Resolutions  of  the  Legislature  of  the 
State  of  Delaware,  which  were  read  : 

"  Resolved,  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Repre 
sentatives  of  the  State  of  Delaware,  in  General 
Assembly  met :  That  it  is,  in  the  opinion  of  this 
General  Assembly,  the  constitutional  right  of  the 
United  States,  in  Congress  assembled,  to  enact 
and  establish,  as  one  of  the  conditions  for  the  ad 
mission  of  a  new  State  into  the  Union,  a  provision 
which  shall  effectually  prevent  the  further  intro 
duction  of  Slavery  into  such  State  ;  and  that  a  due 
regard  to  the  true  interests  of  such  State,  as  well 


THE  SECOND  MISSOURI  STRUGGLE. 


27 


as  of  the  other  States,  require  that  the  same  should 
be  done. 

"  Resolved,  That  a  copy  of  the  above  and  fore 
going  resolution  be  transmitted,  by  the  Speaker 
of  the  Senate,  to  each  of  the  Senators  and  Repre 
sentatives  from  this  State  in  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States." 


KENTUCKY. 

In  Senate,  January  24th,  1820,  Mr.  Logan 
communicated  the  following  preamble  and 
Resolutions  of  the  Legislature  of  the  State 
of  Kentucky,  which  were  read  : 

"  Whereat,  The  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  provides  for  the  admission  of  new  States 
into  the  Union,  and  it  is  just  and  proper  that  all 
such  States  should  be  established  upon  the  footing 
of  original  States,  with  a  view  to  the  preservation 
of  State  Sovereignty,  the  prosperity  of  such  new 
State,  and  the  good  of  their  citizens  ;  and  ivhercas, 
successful  attempts  have  been  heretofore  made, 
and  are  now  making,  to  prevent  the  People  of  the 
Territory  of  Missouri  from  being  admitted  into  the 
Union  as  a  State,  unless  trammeled  by  rules  and 
regulations  which  do  not  exist  in  the  original 
States,  particularly  in  relation  to  the  toleration  of 
Slavery. 

"  Wherean,  also,  if  Congress  can  thus  trammel  or 
control  the  powers  of  a  Territory  in  the  formation 
of  a  State  government,  that  body  may,  on  the 
same  principle,  reduce  its  powers  to  little  more 
than  those  possessed  by  the  people  of  the  District 
of  Columbia ;  and  whilst  professing  to  make  it  a 
Sovereign  State,  may  bind  it  in  perpetual  vas 
salage,  and  reduce  it  to  the  condition  of  a  province ; 
such  State  must  necessarily  become  the  dependent 
of  Congress,  asking  such  powers,  and  not  the  in 
dependent  State,  demanding  rights.  And  whereas, 
it  is  necessary,  in  preserving  the  State  Sovereign 
ties  in  their  present  rights,  that  no  new  State 
should  be  subjected  to  this  restriction,  any  more 
than  an  old  one,  and  that  there  can  be  no  reason 
or  justice  why  it  should  not  be  entitled  to  the 
same  privileges,  when  it  is  bound  to  bear  all  the 
burdens  and  taxes  laid  upon  it  by  Congress. 

"  In  passing  the  following  Resolution,  the  Gene 
ral  Assembly  refrains  from  expressing  any  opinion 
either  in  favor  or  against  the  principles  of  Slavery ; 
but  to  support  and  maintain  State  rights,  which 
it  conceives  necessary  to  be  supported  and  main 
tained,  to  preserve  the  liberties  of  the  free  people 
of  these  United  States,  it  avows  its  solemn  con 
viction,  that  the  States  already  confederated  under 
one  common  Constitution,  have  not  a  right  to 
deprive  new  States  of  equal  privileges  with  them 
selves.  Therefore, 

"Resolved,  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the 
Commonwealth  of  Kentucky,  That  the  Senators 
in  Congress  from  this  State  be  instructed,  and  the 
Representatives  be  requested,  to  use  their  efforts 
to  procure  the  passage  of  a  law  to  admit  the  people 
of  Missouri  into  the  Union,  as  a  State,  whether 
those  people  will  sanction  Slavery  by  their  Con 
stitution,  or  not. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  Executive  of  this  Com 
monwealth  be  requested  to  transrnit  this  Resolu 
tion  to  the  Senators  and  Representatives  of  this 
State  in  Congress,  that  it  may  be  laid  before  that 
body  for  its  consideration." 

The  bill  authorizing  Missouri  to  form  a 
constitution,  etc.,  came  up  in  the  House  as  a 
special  order,  Jan.  24th.  Mr.  Taylor  of  N. 
Y.  moved  that  it  be  postponed  for  one  week  : 
Lost :  Yeas  87  ;  Nays  88.  Whereupon  the 
House  adjourned.  It  was  considered  in  com 
mittee  the  next  day,  as  also  on  the  28th  and 


30th,  and  thence  debated  daily  until  the  19th 
of  February,  when  a  bill  carne  down  from 
the  Senate  "  to  admit  the  State  of  Maine 
into  the  Union,"  but  with  a  rider  authorizing 
the  people  of  Missouri  to  form  a  State  Con 
stitution,  etc.,  without  restriction  on  the  sub 
ject  of  Slavery. 

The  House,  very  early  in  the  session,  passed 
a  bill  providing  for  the  admission  of  Maine 
as  a  State.  This  bill  came  to  the  Senate, 
and  was  sent  to  its  Judiciary  Committee 
aforesaid,  which  amended  it  by  adding  a 
provision  for  Missouri  as  above.  After 
several  days'  debate  in  Senate,  Mr.  Roberts 
of  Pa.  moved  to  recommit,  so  as  to  strike 
out  all  but  the  admission  of  Maine ;  which 
was  defeated  (Jan.  14th,  1820)— Yeas  18 ; 
Nays  25.  Hereupon  Mr.  Thomas  of  111. 
(who  voted  with  the  majority,  as  uniformly 
against  any  restriction  on  Missouri)  gave 
notice  that  he  should 

"  ask  leave  to  bring  a  bill  to  prohibit  the  intro 
duction  of  Slavery  into  the  Territories  of  the 
United  States  North  and  West  of  the  contem 
plated  State  of  Missouri." 

— which  he  accordingly  did  on  the  19th  ; 
when  it  was  read  and  ordered  to  a  third 
reading. 

[NOTE. — Great  confusion  and  misconception  ex 
ists  in  the  public  mind  with  regard  to  "the  Missouri 
Restriction,"  two  totally  different  propositions 
being  called  by  that  name.  The  original  Re 
striction,  which  Mr.  Clay  vehemently  opposed, 
and  Mr.  Jefferson  in  a  letter  characterized  as  a 
"  fire-bell  in  the  night,  "  contemplated  the  limita 
tion  of  Slavery  in  its  exclusion  from  the  State  of 
Missouri.  This  was  ultimately  defeated,  as  we 
shall  see.  The  second  proposed  Restriction  was 
that  of  Mr.  Thomas,  just  cited,  which  proposed 
the  exclusion  of  Slavery,  not  from  the  State  of 
Missouri,  but  from  the  "Territories  of  the  United 
States  North  and  West  of  that  State.  This 
proposition  did  not  emanate  from  the  original 
Missouri  Restrictionists,  but  from  their  adversa 
ries,  and  was  but  reluctantly  and  partially  ac 
cepted  by  the  former.] 

The  Maine  admission  bill,  with  the  pro 
posed  amendments,  was  discussed  through 
several  days,  until,  Feb.  16th,  the  question 
was  taken  on  the  Judiciary  Committee's 
amendments  (authorizing  Missouri  to  form  a 
State  Constitution,  and  saying  nothing  of 
Slavery),  which  were  adopted  by  the  follow 
ing  vote : 

YEAS — Against  the  Restriction  on  Missouri: 


Messrs.  Barbour  of  Va. 
Brown  of  La. 
Eaton  of  Tenn. 
Edwards  of  111. 
Elliott  of  Ga. 
Gaillard  of  S.  C. 
Johnson  of  Ky. 
Johnson  of  La. 
King  (Wm.  R.),  Ala. 
Leake  of  Miss. 
Lloyd  of  Md. 

"Williams  of  Tenn 


Logan  of  Ky. 
Macon,  of  N.  C. 
Pinkney  of  Md. 
Pleasants  of  Va. 
Smith  of  S.  C. 
Stokes  of  N.  C. 
Taylor  of  Ind. 
Thomas  of  111. 
Walker  of  Ala. 
Walker  of  Ga. 
Williams  of  Misa, 
.-23. 


[20  from  Slave  States  ;  3  (in,  italics]  from 
Free  States.] 


28 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  SLAVERY  RESTRICTION. 


NA  YS—For  Restriction  : 


Messrs.  Burrill  of  R.  I. 
Dana  of  Ct. 
Dickinson  of  N.  J. 
Horsey  of  Del. 
Hunter  of  R.  I. 


Noble  of  Ind. 
Otis  of  Mass. 
Palmer  of  Vt. 
Parrott  of  N.  H. 
Roberts  of  Pa. 


King  (Rufus)  of  N.  Y.  Rubles  of  Ohio, 
Lanman  of  Conn.  Sanford  of  N.  Y. 

Lowrie  of  Pa.  Tichenor  of  Vt. 

Mellen  of  Mass.  Trimble  of  Ohio, 

Merrill  of  N.  H.  Van  Dyke  of  Del. 

Wilson  of  N.  J.— 21 

[19  from  Free  States,  2  (in  italics]  from 
Delaware.] 

Mr.  Thomas  of  III.  then  proposed  his 
amendment,  as  follows : 

"  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  the  sixth 
article  of  compact  of  the  Ordinance  of  Con 
gress,  passed  July  13th,  1787,  for  the  govern 
ment  of  the  Territory  of  the  United  States,  north 
west  of  the  river  Ohio,  shall,  to  all  intents  and 
purposes,  be,  and  hereby  is,  deemed  and  held  ap 
plicable  to,  and  shall  have  full  force  and  effect  in 
and  over,  all  that  tract  of  country  ceded  by 
France  to  the  United  States  under  the  name  of 
Louisiana  which  lies  north  of  thirty-six  degrees 
and  thirty  minutes,  north  latitude,  excepting  only 
such  part  thereof  as  is  included  within  the  limits 
contemplated  by  this  act." 

On  the  following  day  Mr.  Thomas  with 
drew  the  foregoing  and  substituted  the  fol 
lowing  : 

"And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  in  all  that  Ter 
ritory  ceded  by  France  to  the  United  States  under 
the  name  of  Louisiana  which  lies  north  of  thirty- 
six  degrees  thirty  minutes,  north  latitude,  except 
ing  only  such  part  thereof  as  is  included  within 
the  limits  of  the  State  contemplated  by  this  act, 
Slavery  and  involuntary  servitude,  otherwise 
than  in  the  punishment  of  crime  whereof  the 
party  shall  have  been  duly  convicted,  shall  be 
and  is  hereby  forever  prohibited.  Provided 
always,  that  any  person  escaping  into  the  same, 
from  where  labor  or  service  is  lawfully  claimed 
in  any  State  or  Territory  of  the  United  States, 
such  fugitive  may  be  lawfully  reclaimed  and  con 
veyed  to  the  person  claiming  his  or  her  labor  or 
service  as  aforesaid." 

Mr.  Trimble  of  Ohio  moved  a  substitute 
for  this,  somewhat  altering  the  boundaries 
of  the  region  shielded  from  Slavery,  which 
was  rejected  :  Yeas  20  (Northern) ;  Nays 
24  (Southern,  with  Noble,  Edwards,  and 
Taylor,  as  aforesaid). 

The  question  then  recurred  on  Mr.  Thom 
as's  amendment,  which  was  adopted  as  fol 
lows  : 

YEA  S — For  excluding  Sla  very  from  all  the 
Territory  North  and  West  of  Missouri: 
Messrs.  Brown  of  La.  Mellen  of  Mass. 

Burrill  of  R.  1.  Morrill  of  N.  H. 

Dana  of  Conn.  Otis  of  Mass. 

Dickerson  of  N.  J.        Palmer  of  Vt. 

Eaton  of  Tenn.  Parrott  of  N.  H. 

Edwards  of  111.  Pinkney  of  Md. 

Horsey  of  Del.  Roberts  of  Pa. 

Hunter  of  R.  I.  Ruggles  of  Ohio. 

Johnson  of  Ky.  Sanford  of  N.  Y. 

Johnson  of  La.  Stokes  of  N.  C. 

King  ( Wm.  R.)  of  Ala.  Thomas  of  111. 

King  (Rufus)  of  N.  Y.  Tichenor  of  Vt. 

Lanman  of  Conn.          Trimble  of  Ohio, 

Leake  of  Miss.  Van  Dyke  of  Del. 

Lowrie  of  Pa.  Walker  of  Ala. 


Lloyd  of  Md.  Williams  of  Ten. 

Logan  of  Ky.  Wilson  of  N.J.— 34 

NAYS — Against  such  Restriction: 
Messrs.  Barbour  of  Va.  Smith  (Wm.)  of 


Elliott  of  Ga. 
Gaillard  of  S.  C. 
Macon  of  N.  C. 
Noble  of  Ind. 
Pleasants  of  Va. 


S.  C. 
Taylor  of  Ind. 
Walker  of  Ga. 
Williams  of 

Miss. -10. 


fit  will  here  be  seen  that  the  Restriction  ulti 
mately  adopted,  that  excluding  Slavery  from  all 
territory  then  owned  by  the  United  States  North 
and  West  of  the  Southwest  border  of  the  State  of 
Missouri,  was  proposed  by  an  early  and  steadfast 
opponent  of  the  Restriction  originally  proposed, 
relative  to  Slavery  in  the  contemplated  State  of 
Missouri,  and  was  sustained  by  the  votes  of  four 
teen  Senators  from  Slave  States,  including  the 
Senators  from  Delaware,  Maryland,  Kentucky, 
Tennessee,  Alabama,  and  Louisiana,  with  one  vote 
each  from  North  Carolina  and  Mississippi. 

The  current  assumption  that  this  Restriction 
was  proposed  by  Rufus  King  of  New  York,  and 
mainly  sustained  by  the  antagonists  of  Slavery 
Extension,  is  wholly  mistaken.  The  truth,  doubt 
less,  is,  that  it  was  suggested  by  the  more  moder 
ate  opponents  of  the  proposed  Restriction  on  Mis 
souri — and  supported  also  by  Senators  from  Slave 
States — as  a  means  of  overcoming  the  resistance 
of  the  House  to  Slavery  in  Missouri.  It  was,  in 
effect,  an  offer  from  the  milder  opponents  of 
Slavery  Restriction  to  the  more  moderate  and 
flexible  advocates  of  that  Restriction — "  Let  us 
have  Slavery  in  Missouri,  and  we  will  unite  with 
you  in  excluding  it  from  all  the  uninhabited 
territories  North  and  West  of  that  State."  It 
was  in  substance  an  agreement  between  the  North 
and  the  South  to  that  effect,  though  the  more  de 
termined  champions,  whether  of  Slavery  Exten 
sion  or  Slavery  Restriction,  did  not  unite  in  it.] 

The  bill,  thus  amended,  was  ordered  to  be 
engrossed  for  a  third  reading  by  the  follow 
ing  vote : 

YEAS— For  the  Missouri  Bill  ; 


Messrs.  Barbour  of  Va. 
Brown  of  La. 
Eaton  of  Tenn. 
Edwards  of  111. 
Elliott  of  Ga. 
Gaillard  of  S.  C. 
Horsey  of  Del. 
Hunter  of  R.  I. 
Johnson  of  Ky." 
Johnson  of  La. 
King  of  Ala. 
Leake  of  Miss. 


Lloyd  of  Md. 
Logan  -of  Ky. 
Parrott  of  N.  H. 
Pinknev  of  Md. 
Pleasants  of  Va. 
Stokes  of  N.  C. 
Thomas  of  111. 
Van  Dyke,  Del. 
Walker  of  Ala. 


Walker  of  Ga. 
Williams  of  Miss. 
Williams,  Tenn.— 24. 

NAYS— Against  the  Bill  : 
Messrs.  Burrill  of  R.  I.  Otis  of  Mass. 

Dana  of  Conn.  Palmer  of  Vt. 

Dickerson  of  N.  J.          Roberts  of  Pa. 
King  of  N.  Y.  Ruggles  of  Ohio, 

Lanman  of  Conn.  San  ford  of  N.  Y. 

Lowrie  of  Pa.  Smith  of  S.  C. 

Mncon  of  N.  C.  Taylor  of  Ind. 

Mellen  of  Mass.  Tichenor  of  Vt 

Morrill  of  N.  H.  Trimble  of  Ohio, 

Noble  of  Ind.  Wilson  of  N.  J. 

—20. 


THE  SFCOND  MISSOURI  STRUGGLE. 


29 


The  bill  was  thus  passed  (Feb.  18th)  with 
out  further  division,  and  sent  to  the  House 
for  concurrence.     In  the  House,  Mr.  Thorn- 1 
as's  amendment  (as  above)  was  at  first  re- 1 
jected  by  both  parties,  and  defeated  by  the 
strong  vote  of  159  to  18.     The  Yeas  (to 
adopt)  were, 
Messrs   Baldwin  of  Pa.  MeechofVt, 

Bayly  of  Md.  Mercer  of  Va. 

Bloomfield  of  N.  J.  Quarles  of  Ky. 

Cocke  of  Tenn.  Ringgold  of  Md. 

Crafts  of  Vt.  Shaw  of  Mass. 

Culpepper  of  N.  C.  Sloan  of  Ohio. 

Kinsey  of  N.  J.  Smith  of  N.  J. 

LathropofMass.  Smith  of  Md. 

Little  of  Md.  Tarr  of  Pa.— 18. 

Prior  to  this  vote,  the  House  disagreed  to 
the  log-rolling  of  Maine  and  Missouri,  into 
one  bill  by  the  strong  vote  of  93  to  72. 
[We  do  not  give  the  Yeas  and  Nays  on  this 
decision  ;  but  the  majority  was  composed  of 
the  representatives  of  the  Free  States  with 
only  four  exceptions  ;  and  Mr.  Louis  McLane 
of  Delaware,  who  was  constrained  by  in 
structions  from  his  legislature.  His  col 
league,  Mr.  Willard  Hall,  did  not  vote.] 

The  members  from  Free  States  who  voted 
with  the  South  to  keep  Maine  and  Missouri 
united  in  one  bill  were, 

Messrs.  H.  Baldwin  of  Pa.    Henry  Meigs  of  N.  Y. 
Bloomfield  of  N.  J.  Henry  Shaw  of  Mass. 

The  House  also  disagreed  to  the  remain 
ing  amendments  of  the  Senate  (striking  out 
the  restriction  on  Slavery  in  Missouri)  by 
the  strong  vote  of  102  Yeas  to  68  Nays. 

[Nearly  or  quite  every  Representative  of  a  Free 
State  voted  in  the  majority  of  this  division  with 
the  following  from  Slave  States  : 

Louis  McLane,  Del.    Nelson,  Md. 
Alney  McLean,  Ky.    Trimble,  Ky.] 

So  the  House  rejected  all  the  Senate's 
amendments,  and  returned  the  bill  with  a 
corresponding  message. 

The  Senate  took  up  the  bill  on  the  24th, 
and  debated  it  till  the  28th,  when,  on  a  direct 
vote,  it  was  decided  not  to  recede  from  the 
attachment  of  Missouri  to  the  Maine  bill : 
Yeas  21  ;  (19  from  Free  States  and  2  from 
Delaware  ;)  Nays  23  ;  (20  from  Slave  States, 
with  Messrs.  Taylor  of  Ind.,  Edwards  and 
Thomas  of  111.) 

The  Senate  also  voted  not  to  recede  from 
its  amendment  prohibiting  Slavery  west  of 
Missouri,  and  north  of  36°  30 ',  north  latitude. 
(For  receding,  9  from  Slave  States,  with 
Messrs.  Noble  and  Taylor  of  Ind.  :  against 
it  33— (22  from  Slave  States,  11  from  Free 
States.)  The  remaining  amendments  of  the 
Senate  were  then  insisted  on  without  division, 
and  the  House  notified  accordingly. 

The  bill  was  now  returned  to  the  House, 
which,  on  motion  of  Mr.  John  W.  Taylor 
of  N.  Y..  voted  to  insist  on  its  disagreement 
to  all  but  sec.  9  of  the  Senate's  amendments, 
by  Yeas  97  to  Nays  76  :  [all  but  a  purely 
sectional  vote  :  Hugh  Nelson  of  Ya.  voting 


of  N.  J.,  and  Shaw  of  Mass.,  voting  with  the 
South  ] 

Sec.  9,  (the  Senate's  exclusion  of  Slavery 
from  the  Territory  north  and  west  of  Mis 
souri)  was  also  rejected — Yeas  160  ;  Nays 
14,  (much  as  before.)  The  Senate  there 
upon  (March  2nd)  passed  the  House's  Mis 
souri  bill,  striking  out  the  restriction  of 
Slavery  by  Yeas  27  to  Nays  15,  and  adding 
without  a  division  the  exclusion  of  Slavery 
from  the  Territory  west  and  north  of  said 
State.  Mr.  Trimble  again  moved  the  exclu 
sion  of  Slavery  from.  Arkansas  also,  but  was 
again  voted  down  ;  Yeas  12  ;  Nays  30. 

The  Senate  now  asked  a  conference,  which 
the  House  granted  without  a  division.  The 
Committee  of  Conference  was  composed  of 
Messrs.  Thomas  of  111.,  Pinkney  of  Md.,and 
Barbour  of  Va.  (all  anti-restrictionists),  on 
the  part  of  the  Senate,  and  Messrs.  Holmes 
of  Mass.,  Taylor  of  N.  Y.,  Lowndes  of  S.  C., 
Parker  of  Mass.,  and  Kinsey  of  N.  J.,  on 
the  part  of  the  House.  [Such  constitution 
of  the  Committee  of  Conference  was  in  effect 
a  surrender  of  the  Restriction  on  the  part  of 
the  House.]  John  Holmes  of  Mass.,  from 
this  Committee,  in  due  time  (March  2nd),  re 
ported  that, 

1.  The  Senate  should  give  up  the  combina 
tion  of   Missouri    in    the   same   bill  with 
Maine. 

2.  The  House  should  abandon  the  attempt 
to  restrict  Slavery  in  Missouri. 

3.  Both  Houses  should  agree  to  pass  the 
Senate's   separate   Missouri   bill,  with   Mr. 
Thomas's  restriction  or  compromising  pro 
viso,  excluding  Slavery  from  all   Territory 
north  and  west  of  Missouri. 

The  report  having  been  read, 
The  first  and  most  important  question 
was  put,  viz.  : 

"  Will  the  House  concur  with  the  Senate  in  so 
much  of  the  said  amendments  as  proposes  to 
strike  from  the  fourth  section  of  the  [Missouri] 
bill  the  provision  prohibiting  Slavery  or  involun 
tary  servitude,  in  the  contemplated  State,  other 
wise  than  in  the  punishment  of  crimes  ?" 

On   which  question  the  Yeas  and   Nays 
were  demanded,  and  were  as  follow  : 
YEAS — For  giving  up  Restriction  on  Mis 
souri  : 

MASSACHUSETTS — Mark  Langdon  Hill,  John 
Holmes,  Jonathan  Mason,  Henry  Shaw — 4. 

RHODE  ISLAND. — Samuel  Eddy — 1. 

CONNECTICUT.— Samuel  A.  Foot,  James  Ste 
phens — 2. 

NEW-YORK.— Henry  Meigs,  Henry  R.  Storrs 
2 

NEW-JERSEY.— Joseph  Bloomfield,  Charlei 
Kinsey,  Bernard  Smith — 3. 

PENNSYLVANIA.— Henry  Baldwin,  David  Ful 
lerton— 2. 

Total  from  Free  States  14. 

DELAWARE. — Louis  McLnne — 1. 

MARYLAND. — Stephenson  Archer,  Thomas  Bay 
ly,  Thomas  Culbreth,  Joseph  Kent.  Peter  Little, 
Raphael  Neoje,  Samuel  Ringgold,  Samuel  Smith, 
Henry  R.  Warfield— 9. 

VIRGINIA;  —  Mark     Alexander,    William 


With  the  North  ;  Baldwin  of  Pa.,  Bloomfield  |  Archer,  Philip  P.  Barbour,  William  A.  Burwell, 


30 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  SLAVERY  RESTRICTION. 


John  Floyd,  Robert  S.  Garnett,  James  Johnson, 
James  Jones,  William  McCoy,  Charles  F.  Mercer, 
Hugh  Nelson,  Thomas  Nelson,  Severn  E.  Par 
ker,  Jas  Pindall,  John  Randolph,  Ballard  Smith, 
Alexander  Smyth,  George  F.  Strother,  Thomas 
Van  Su-earingen,  George  Tucker,  John  Tyler, 
Jared  Williams_y2. 

NORTH  CAROLINA. — Hutchins  G;  Burton,  John 
Culjiepper.  William  Davidson,  Weldon  N.  Ed 
wards,  Charles  Fisher,  Thomas  H.  Hall,  Charles 
Hooks,  Thomas  Settle,  Jesse  Sloeumb,  James 
S.  Smith,  Felix  Walker,  Lewis  Williams — 12. 

SOUTH  CAROLINA.  —  Josiah  Brevard,  Elias 
Earle,  James  Ervin,  William  Lovvndes,  James 
McCreary,  James  Overstreet,  Charles  Pinckney, 
Eldred  Simkins,  Sterling  Tucker— 9. 

GKOKGIA Joel  A.  Abbott,  Thomas  W.  Cobb, 

Joel  Crawford.  John  A.  Cuthbert,  Robert  R. 
Reid,  William  Terrell— 6. 

ALABAMA. — John  Crowell— 1. 

MISSISSIPPI. — John  Rankin — 1. 

LOUISIANA. — Thomas  Butler — 1. 

KENTUCKY.— Richard  C.  Anderson,  jr., William 
Brown,  Benjamin  Hardin,  Aluey  McLean, 
Thomas  Metcalf,  Tunstall  Quarles,  Geo.  Robert 
son,  David  Trimble — 8. 

T  KNNESSEE. — Robert  Allen,  Henry  H.  Bryan, 
Newton  Cannon,  John  Cocke,  Francis  Joiies, 
John  Rhea_  5. 

Total  Yeas  from  Slave  States  76  ;  in  all  90. 
NAYS — Against  giving  up  the  Restriction 
on  Slavery  in  Missouri : 

NEW-HAMPSHIRE — Joseph  Buffum,  jr.,  Josiah 
Butler,  Clifton  Clagett,  Arthur  Livermore,  Wil 
liam  Plumer,  jr.,  Nathaniel  Upham-  .6. 

MASSACHUSETTS  (including  Maine).  -.Benjamin 
Adams.  Samuel  C.  Allen.  Joshua  Cushman,  Ed 
ward  Dowse,  Walter  Folger,  jr.,  Timothy  Fuller, 
Jonas  Kendall,  Martin  Kinsley,  Samuel  Lathrop, 
Enoch  Lincoln,  Marcus  Morton,  Jeremiah  Nelson. 
James  Parker,  Zabdiel  Sampson,  Nathaniel  Sils- 
bee,  Ezekiel  Whitman—I  6. 

RHODE  ISLAND — Nathaniel  Hazard—I. 

CONNECTICUT Jonathan  O.  Moseley,  Elisha 

Phelps.  John  Russ,  Gideon  Tomlinson— 'A. 

VERMONT Samuel  C.  Crafts,  Rollin  C.  Mal- 

lary,  Ezra  Meech,  Charles  Rich,  Mark  Richards, 
William  Strong 6. 

NEW- YORK Nathaniel  Allen,  Caleb  Baker, 

Robert  Clark,  Jacob  H.  De  Witt,  John  D.  Dick 
inson,  John  Fay,  William  D.  Ford,  Ezra  C.  Gross, 
James  Guyon,  jr.,  Aaron  Hackley.  jr.,  George 
Hall,  Joseph  S.  Lyman,  Robert  Monell,  Nathaniel 
Pitcher,  Jonathan  Richmond,  Randall  S.  Street, 
James  Strong,  John  W.  Taylor,  Albert  H. 
Tracy,  Solomon  Van  Rensselaer,  Peter  H.  Wen- 
dover,  Silas  Wood_22. 

NEW-JERSEY.. -Ephraim  Bateman,  John  Linn, 
Henry  Southard_3. 

PKNNSYLVANIA  _  Andrew  Boden,  William 
Darlington,  George  Dennison,  Samuel  Edwards, 
Thomas  Forrest,  Samuel  Gross,  Joseph  Hemphill, 
Jacob  Hibschman,  Joseph  Heister,  Jacob  Hostet- 
ter,  William  P.  Maclay,  David  Marchand,  Robert 
Mooie,  Samuel  Moore,  John  Murray,  Thomas 
Patterson,  Robert  Philson,  Thomas  J.  Rogers, 
John  Sergeant,  Christian  Tarr,  James  M.Wal 
lace-  21. 

OHIO Philemon  Beecher,  Henry  Brush,  John 

W.  Campbell,  Samuel  Herrick,  Thomas  R.  Ross, 
John  Sloane 6. 

INDIAN  A. — William  Hendricks_  .1. 

ILLINOIS Daniel  P.  Cook—I. 

Total  Nays  87— all  from  Free  States. 

[The  members  apparently  absent  on  this  im 
portant  division,  were  Henry  W.  Edwards  of 
Conn.,  Walter  Case  and  Honorius  Peck  of  N.  Y. 
and  John  Condit  of  N.  J.,  from  the  Free  States  ; 


with  Lemuel  Sawyer  of  N.  C.,  and  David  Walker 
of  Ky.,  from  the  Slave  States.  Mr.  Clay  of  Ky. » 
being  Speaker,  did  not  vote.] 

Tliis  defeat  broke  the  back  of  the  Northern 
resistance  to  receiving  Missouri  as  a  Slave 
State. 

Mr.  Taylor,  of  N.  Y.,  now  moved  an  amend 
ment,  intended  to  include  Arkansas  Territory 
under  the  proposed  Inhibition  of  Slavery 
West  of  Missouri ;  but  this  motion  was  cut 
off  by  the  Previous  Question  (which  then 
cut  off  amendments  more  rigorously,  accord 
ing  to  the  rules  of  the  House,  than  it  now 
does),  and  the  House  proceeded  to  concur 
with  the  Senate  in  inserting  the  exclusion  of 
Slavery  from  the  Territory  West  and  North 
of  Missouri,  instead  of  that  just  stricken  out 
by  134  Yeas  to  42  Nays,  (the  Nays  being 
from  the  South).  So  the  bill  was  passed  in 
the  form  indicated  above ;  and  the  bill  ad 
mitting  Maine  as  a  State,  (relieved,  by  a 
conference,  from  the  Missouri  rider,)  passed 
both  Houses  without  a  division,  on  the  fol 
lowing  day. 

Such  was  the  virtual  termination  of  the 
struggle  for  the  restriction  of  Slavery  in 
Missouri,  which  was  beaten  by  the  plan  of 
proffering  instead  an  exclusion  of  Slavery 
from  all  the  then  Federal  Territory  West  and 
North  of  that  State.  It  is  unquestionable 
that,  without  this  compromise  or  equivalent, 
the  Northern  votes,  which  passed  the  bill, 
could  not  have  been  obtained  for  it. 

YIIL 

THE    THIRD    MISSOURI    STRUGGLE. 

THOUGH  the  acceptance  of  Missouri  as  a 
State,  with  a  Slave  Constitution,  was  forever 
settled  by  the  votes  just  recorded,  a  new  ex 
citement  sprang  up  on  her  presenting  herself 
to  Congress  (Nov.  16,  1820),  with  a  State 
Constitution,  framed  on  the  19th  of  July, 
containing  the  following  resolutions  : 

"  The  General  Assembly  shall  have  no  power 
to  pass  laws,  First,  for  the  emancipation  of  slaves 
without  the  consent  of  their  owners,  or  without 
paying  them,  before  such  emancipation,  a  full 
equivalent  for  such  Slaves  so  emancipated ;  and, 
Second,  to  prevent  bona  Jide  emigrants  to  this 
State,  or  actual  settlers  therein  from  bringing 
from  any  of  the  United  ^States,  or  from  any  of 
their  Territories,  such  persons  as  may  there  be 
deemed  to  be  Slaves,  so  long  as  any  persons  of 
the  same  description  are  allowed  to  be  held  as 
Slaves  by  the  laws  of  this  State. 

*  •'  It  shall  be  their  duty,  as  soon  as 
may  be,  to  pass  such  laws  as  may  be  necessary, 

"  First,  to  prevent  free  negroes  and  mulattoes 
from  coming  to,  and  settling  in,  this  State,  under 
any  pretext  whatever." 

The  North,  still  smarting  under  a  sense  of 
its  defeat  on  the  question  of  excluding  Slavery 
from  Missouri,  regarded  this  as  needlessly  de 
fiant,  insulting,  and  inhuman,  and  the  last 
quoted  as  palpably  in  violation  of  that  clause 
of  the  Federal  Constitution  which  gives  to  the 
citizens  of  each  State  (which  blacks  are,  in 


THE  ANNEXATION  OF  TEXAS. 


31 


several  Free  States,)  the  rights  of  citizens  in 
every  State.  A  determined  resistance  to  any 
such  exclusion  was  manifested,  and  a  portion 
of  the  Northern  Members  evinced  a  disposi 
tion  to  renew  the  struggle  against  the  further 
introduction  of  Slaves  into  Missouri.  At 
the  first  effort  to  carry  her  admission,  the 
House  voted  it  down — Yeas,  79  ;  Nays,  93. 
A  second  attempt  to  admit  her,  on  condition 
she  would  expunge  the  obnoxious  clause  (last 
quoted)  of  her  Constitution,  was  voted  down 
still 'more  decisively — Yeas,  6  ;  Nays,  146. 

The  House  now  rested,  until  a  joint  resolve, 
admitting  her  with  but  a  vague  and  ineffect 
ive  qualification,  came  down  from  the  Senate, 
where  it  was  passed  by  a  vote  of  26  to  18 — 
six  Senators  from  Free  States  in  the  affirma 
tive.  Mr.  Clay,  who  had  resigned  in  the 
recess,  and  been  succeeded,  as  Speaker,  by 
John  W".  Taylor,  of  New  York,  now  appeared 
as  the  leader  of  the  Missouri  admissionists, 
and  proposed  terms  of  compromise,  which 
were  twice  voted  down  by  the  Northern 
Members,  aided  by  John  Randolph  and  three 
others  from  the  South,  who  would  have 
Missouri  admitted  without  condition  or  qua 
lification.  At  last,  Mr.  Clay  proposed  a 
Joint  Committee  on  this  subject,  to  be  chosen 
by  ballot — which  the  House  agreed  to  by 
101  to  55  ;  and  Mr.  Clay  became  its  Chair 
man.  "By  this  Committee  it  was  agreed,  that 
a  solemn  pledge  should  be  required  of  the 
Legislature  of  Missouri,  that  the  Constitution 
of  that  State  should  not  be  construed  to 
authorize  the  passage  of  any  Act,  and  that 
no  Act  should  be  passed,  "  by  which  any  of 
the  citizens  of  either  of  the  States  should  be 
excluded  from  the  enjoyment  of  the  privileges 
and  immunities  to  which  they  are  entitled 
under  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States." 
The  Joint  Resolution,  amended  by  the  addi 
tion  of  this  proviso,  passed  the  House  by  86 
Yeas  to  82  Nays ;  the  Senate  concurred 
(Feb.  27th,  182L)  by  26  Yeas  to  15  Nays- 
fall  Northern  but  Macon,  of  N.  C.)  Mis 
souri  complied  with  the  condition,  and  be 
came  an  accepted  member  of  the  Union. 
Thus  closed  the  last  stage  of  the  fierce  Mis 
souri  Controversy,  which  for  a  time  seemed 
to  threaten — as  so  many  other  controversies 
have  harmlessly  threatened — the  existence  of 
the  Union. 

IX. 

EXTENSION    OF    MISSOURI. 

THE  State  of  Missouri,  as  originally  or 
ganized,  was  bounded  on  the  West  by  a  line 
already  specified,  which  excluded  a  triangle 
West  of  said  line,  and  between  it  and  the 
Missouri,  which  was  found,  in  time,  to  be 
exceedingly  fertile  and  desirable.  It  was 
free  soil  by  the  terms  of  the  Missouri  com 
pact,  and  was  also  covered  by  Indian  reserv 
ations,  not  to  be  removed  without  a  concur 
rence  of  two-thirds  of  the  Senate.  Messrs. 
Benton  and  Linn,  senators  from  Missouri, 


undertook  the  difficult  task  of  engineering 
through  Congress  a  bill  including  this  triangle 
(large  enough  to  form  seven  Counties)  within 
the  State  of  Missouri ;  which  they  effected, 
at  the  long  Session  of  1835-6,  so  quietly  as 
hardly  to  attract  attention.  The  bill  was 
first  sent  to  the  Senate's  Committee  on  the 
Judiciary,  where  a  favorable  report  was  pro 
cured  from  Mr.  John  M.  Clayton,  of  Dela 
ware,  its  Chairman  ;  and  then  it  was  floated 
through  both  Houses  without  encountering 
the  perils  of  a  division.  The  requisite  Indian 
treaties  were  likewise  carried  through  the 
Senate ;  so  Missouri  became  possessed  of  a 
large  and  desirable  accession  of  territory, 
which  has  since  become  one  of  her  most  po 
pulous  and  wealthy  sections,  devoted  to  the 
growing  of  hemp,  tobacco,  etc.,  and  culti 
vated  by  Slaves.  This  is  the  most  pro-Slavery 
section  of  the  State,  in  which  was  originated, 
and  has  been  principally  sustained,  that  series 
of  inroads  into  Kansas,  corruptions  of  her 
ballot-boxes,  and  outrages  upon  her  people, 
which  have  earned  for  their  authors  the  ap 
pellation  of  Border  Ruffians. 

X. 

THE   ANNEXATION   OF    TEXAS. 

THE  name  of  Texas  was  originally  applied 
to  a  Spanish  possession  or  province,  lying 
between  the  Mississippi  and  the  Rio  Grande 
del  Norte,  but  not  extending  to  either  of 
these  great  rivers.  It  was  an  appendage  of 
the  Viceroyalty  of  Mexico,  but  had  very  few 
civilized  inhabitants  down  to  the  time  of  the 
separation  of  Mexico  from  Spain.  On  two 
or  three  occasions,  bands  of  French  adven 
turers  had  landed  on  its  coast,  or  entered  it 
from  the  adjoining  French  colony  of  Louisi 
ana  ;  but  they  had  uniformly  been  treated  as 
intruders,  and  either  destroyed  or  made  pri 
soners  by  the  Spanish  military  authorities. 
No  line  had  ever  been  drawn  between  the 
two  colonies  ;  but  the  traditional  line  between 
them,  south  of  the  Red  River,  ran  somewhat 
within  the  limits  of  the  present  State  of 
Louisiana. 

The  etymology  of  Natchitoches,  a  city  of 
Louisiana  on  the  Red  River,  several  miles 
within  the  present  boundary  of  that  State, 
attests  its  claims  to  a  Spanish  origin. 

When  Louisiana  was  transferred  by  France 
to  the  United  States,  without  specification 
of  boundaries,  collisions  of  claims  on  this 
frontier  was  apprehended.  General  Wilkin 
son,  commanding  the  United  States  troops, 
moved  gradually  to  the  west ;  the  Spanish 
commandant  in  Texas  likewise  drew  toward 
the  frontiers,  until  they  stood  opposite  each 
other  across  what  was  then  tacitly  settled 
as  the  boundary  between  the  two  countries. 
This  was  never  afterward  disregarded. 

In  1819,  Spain  and  the  United  States 
seemed  on  the  verge  of  war.  General  Jack 
son  had  twice  invaded  Florida,  on  the  assump- 


32 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  SLAVERY  RESTRICTION. 


tion  of  complicity  on  the  part  of  her  rulers 
and  people — first  with  our  British,  then  with 
our  savage  enemies — and  had  finally  overrun, 
and,  in  effect,  annexed  it  to  the  Union. 
Spain,  on  the  other  hand,  had  preyed  upon 
our  commerce  during  the  long  wars  in 
Europe,  and  honestly  owed  our  merchants 
large  sums  for  unjustifiable  seizures  and 
spoliations.  A  negotiation  for  the  settle 
ment  of  these  differences  was  carried  on  at 
Washington,  between  John  Quincy  Adams, 
Mr.  Monroe's  Secretary  of  State,  and  Don 
Onis,  the  Spanish  embassador,  in  the  course 
of  which  Mr.  Adams  set  up  a  claim,  on  the 
part  of  this  country,  to  Texas  as  a  natural 
geographical  appendage  not  of  Mexico, 
but  of  Louisiana.  This  claim,  however,  he 
eventually  waived  and  relinquished,  in  con 
sideration  of  a  cession  of  Florida  by  Spain 
to  this  country — our  government  agreeing, 
on  its  part,  to  pay  the  claims  of  our  mer 
chants  for  spoliations.  Texas  remained, 
therefore,  what  it  always  had  been — a  de 
partment  or  province  of  Mexico,  with  a 
formal  quit-claim  thereto  on  the  part  of  the 
United  States. 

The  natural  advantages  of  this  region 
naturally  attracted  the  attention  of  Ameri 
can  adventurers,  and  a  small  colony  of 
Yankees  was  settled  thereon,  about  1819-20, 
by  Moses  Austin  of  Connecticut.  Other 
settlements  followed.  Originally,  grants  of 
land  in  Texas  were  prayed  for,  and  obtained 
of  the  Mexican  government,  on  the  assump 
tion  that  the  petitioners  were  Roman  Catho 
lics,  persecuted  in  the  United  States,  because 
of  their  religion,  and  anxious  to  find  a  refuge 
in  some  Catholic  country.  Thus  all  the 
early  emigrants  to  Texas  went  professedly  as 
Catholics,  no  other  religion  being  tolerated. 

Slavery  was  abolished  by  Mexico  soon 
after  the  consummation  of  her  independence, 
when  very  few  slaves  were,  or  ever  had  been, 
in  Texas,  But,  about  1834,  some  years  after 
this  event,  a  quiet,  but  very  general,  and, 
evidently  concerted,  emigration,  mainly  from 
Tennessee  and  other  southwestern  States, 
began  to  concentrate  itself  in  Texas.  The 
emigrants  carried  rifles  ;  many  of  them  were 
accompanied  by  slaves  ;  and  it  was  well  un 
derstood  that  they  did  not  intend  to  become 
Mexicans,  much  less  to  relinquish  their 
slaves.  When  Gen.  Sam.  Houston  left 
Arkansas  for  Texas,  in  1834-5,  the  Little 
Rock  Journal,  which  announced  his  exodus 
and  destination,  significantly  added  :  "  We 
shall,  doubtless,  hear  of  his  raising  his  flag 
there  shortly."  That  was  a  foregone  conclusion. 

Of  course,  the  new  settlers  in  Texas  did 
not  lack  pretexts  or  provocations  for  such  a 
step.  Mexico  was  then  much  as  she  is  now, 
misgoverned,  turbulent,  anarchical,  and  des 
potic^  The  overthrow  of  her  Federal  Con 
stitution  by  Santa  Anna  was  one  reason  as 
signed  for  the  rebellion  against  her  authori 
ty  which  broke  out  in  Texas.  In  1835,  her 


independence  was  declared  ;  in  1836,  at  the 
decisive  battle  of  San  Jacinto,  it  was,  by  the 
rout  and  capture  of  the  Mexican  dictator, 
secured.  This  triumph  was  won  by  emi 
grants  from  this  country  almost  exclusively  ; 
scarcely  half  a  dozen  of  the  old  Mexican  in 
habitants  participating  in  the  revolution. 
Santa  Anna,  while  a  prisoner,  under  restraint 
and  apprehension,  agreed  to  a  peace  on  the 
basis  of  the  independence  of  Texas — a 
covenant  which  he  had  no  power,  and  proba 
bly  no  desire,  to  give  effect  to  when  restored 
to  liberty.  The  Texaus,  pursuing  their  ad 
vantage,  twice  or  thrice  penetrated  other 
Mexican  provinces — Tamaulipas,  Coahuila, 
etc.,  and  waved  their  Lone-Star  flag  in  de 
fiance,  on  the  banks  of  the  Rio  Grande  del 
Norte  ;  which  position,  however,  they  were 
always  compelled  soon  to  abandon — once 
with  severe  loss.  Their  government,  never 
theless,  in  reiterating  their  declaration  of  in 
dependence,  claimed  the  Rio  Grande  as  their 
western  boundary,  from  its  source  to  its 
mouth,  including  a  large  share  of  Tamaulipas, 
Coahuila,  Durango,  and  by  far  the  more  im 
portant  and  populous  portion  of  New  Mexi 
co.  And  it  was  with  this  claim,  express 
ly  set  forth  in  the  treaty,  that  President 
Tyler  and  his  responsible  advisers  negotiated 
the  first  official  project  of  annexation,  which 
was  submitted  to  the  Senate,  during  the  ses 
sion  of  1843-44.  and  rejected  by  a  very  de 
cisive  vote  :  only  fifteen  (mainly  Southern) 
senators  voting  to  confirm  it.  Col.  Benton, 
and  others,  urged  this  aggressive  claim  of 
boundary,  as  affording  abundant  reason  for 
the  rejection  of  this  treaty;  but  it  is  not 
known  that  the  Slavery  aspect  of  the  case 
attracted  especial  attention  in  the  Senate. 
The  measure,  however,  had  already  been 
publicly  eulogized  by  Gen.  James  Hamilton, 
of  S.  C.,  as  calculated  to  '•  give  a  Gibraltar 
to  the  South,"  and  had,  on  that  ground,  se 
cured  a  very  general  and  ardent  popularity 
throughout  the  southwest.  And,  more  than 
a  year  previously,  several  northern  mem 
bers  of  Congress  had  united  in  the  fol 
lowing  : 

TO  THE  PEOPLE  OF  THE  FREE  STATES 
OF  THE  UNION. 

We.  the  undersigned,  in  closing  our  duties  to 
our  constituents  and  our  country  as  members  of 
the  27th  Congress,  feel  bound  to  call  your  atten 
tion,  very  briefly,  to  the  project,  long  entertained 
by  a  portion  of  the  people  of  these  United  States, 
still  pertinaciously  adhered  to,  and  intended  soon 
to  be  consummated  :  THE  ANNEXATION  OF  TEXAS 
TO  THIS  UNION.  In  the  press  of  business  inci 
dent  to  the  last  days  of  a  session  of  Congress,  we 
have  not  time,  did  we  deem  it  necessary,  to 
enter  upon  a  detailed  statement  of  the  reasons 
which  force  upon  our  minds  the  conviction, 
that  this  project  is  by  no  means  abandoned  : 
that  a  large  portion  of  the  country,  interested 
in  the  continuance  of  Domestic  Slavery  and 
the  Slave  Trade  in  these  United  States,  have 
solemnly  and  unalterably  determined :  that  it 
shall  be  speedily  carried  into  execution ;  and  that, 
by  this  admission  of  new  Sluve  Territory  and 


THE  ANNEXATION  OF  TEXAS. 


Slave  Stales,  the  undue  ascendancy  of  the  Slave- 
holding  power  in  (he  Government  Khali  be  secured 
and  riveted  beyond  all  redemption  !  ! 

That  it  was  with  these  views  and  intentions  that 
settlements  were  effected  iu  the  Province,  by 
citizens  of  the  United  States,  difficulties  foment 
ed  with  the  Mexican  Government,  a  revolt 
brought  about,  and  an  Independent  Government 
declared,  cannot  now  admit  of  a  doubt ;  and  that, 
hitherto,  all  attempts  of  Mexico  to  reduce  her  re 
volted  province  to  obedience,  have  proved  un 
successful  is  to  be  attributed  to  the  unlawful  aid 
and  assistance  of  designing  and  interested  indi 
viduals  in  the  United  States,  and  the  direct  and 
indirect  co-operation  of  our  own  Government, 
with  similar  views,  is  not  the  less  certain  and  de 
monstrable. 

The  open  and  repeated  enlistment  of  troops  in 
several  States  of  this  Union,  in  aid  of  the  Texan 
Revolution,  the  intrusion  of  an  American  Army, 
by  order  of  the  President,  far  into  the  Territory 
Of  the  Mexican  Government,  at  a  moment  critical 
for  the  fate  of  the  insurgents,  under  pretense 
of  preventing  Mexican  soldiers  from  fomenting 
Indian  disturbances,  but  in  reality  in  aid  of,  and 
acting  in  singular  concert  and  coincidence  with, 
the  army  of  the  Revolutionists,  the  entire  neglect 
of  our  Government  to  adopt  any  efficient  measures 
to  prevent  the  most  unwarrantable  aggressions 
of  bodies  of  our  own  citizens,  enlisted,  organized 
and  officered  within  our  own  borders,  and  march 
ed  in  arms  and  battle  array  upon  the  territory,  and 
a.gfiinst  the  inhabitants  of  a  friendly  government, 
in  aid  of  freebooters  and  insurgents,  and  the  pre 
mature  recognition  of  the  Independence  of  Texas, 
by  a  snap  vote,  at  the  heel  of  a  session  of  Con 
gress,  and  that,  too,  at  the  very  session  when 
President  Jackson  had,  by  special  Message,  in 
sisted  that  "the  measure  would  be  contrary  to 
the  policy  invariably  observed  by  the  United 
States  in  all  similar  cases  ;''  would  be  marked  with 
great  injustice  to  Mexico,  and  peculiarly  liable  to 
the  darkest  suspicions,  inasmuch  ax  the  Tcxans 
were  almost  all  emigrants  from  the  United  State*, 

AND  SOUGHT  THE  RECOGNITION  OF  THEIR  INDE 
PENDENCE  WITH  THE  AVOWED  PURPOSE  OF  OB 
TAINING  THEIR  ANNEXATION  TO  THE  U.  STATES. 

These  occurrences  are  too  well  known  and  too 
fresh  in  the  memory  of  all,  to  need  more  than  a 
passing  notice.  These  have  become  matters  of 
history.  For  further  evidence  upon  all  these  and 
other  important  points,  we  refer  to  the  memorable 
speech  of  John  Quincy  Adams,  delivered  in  the 
House  of  Representatives  during  the  morning 
hour  in  June  and  July,  1838.  and  to  his  address 
to  his  constituents,  delivered  at  Braintree,  17th 
September,  1842. 

The  open  avowal  of  the  Texans  themselves — 
the  frequent  and  anxious  negotiations  of  our  own 
Government — the  resolutions  of  various  States  of 
the  Union — the  numerous  declarations  of  mem 
bers  of  Congress — the  tone  of  the  Southern  press 
— as  well  as  the  direct  application  of  the  Texan 
Government,  make  it  impossible  for  any  man  to 
doubf,  that  ANNEXATION,  and  the  formation  of 
several  new  Slaveholding  States,  were  originally 
the  policy  and  design  of  the  Slaveholding  States 
and  the  Executive  of  the  Nation. 

The  same  references  will  show,  very  con 
clusively,  that  the  particular  objects  of  this  new 
acquisition  of  Slave  Territory,  were  THE  PER 
PETUATION  OF  SLAVERY  AND  THE  CONTINUED 
ASCENDANCY  OF  THE  SLAVE  POWER. 

The  following  extracts  from  a  Report  on  that 
subject,  adopted  by  the  Legislature  of  Mississippi, 
from  a  mass  of  similar  evidence  which  might  DO 
be  adduced,  will  show  with  what  views  the  an 
nexation  was  then  urgi-d. 

"Bat  we  hasten  to  suggest  the  importance  of  the 

annexation  of  Texas  to   this  Republic  upon  grounds 

somewhat  local  in  their  complexion,  but  of  an  import 

infinitely  grave  and  interesting  to  the  people  who  in- 

3 


habit  the  Southern  portion  of  this  Confederacy,  where 
it  is  known  that  a  i-peciesof  domestic  Slavery  is  toU- 
rated  and  protected  by  law,  whose  existt-nce.  is  pro 
hibited  by  the  legal  regulations  of  other  States  nf  this 
Confederacy;  which  system  of  Slavery  is  held  by  all, 
who  are  familiarly  acquainted  with  its  practical  ef 
fects,  lo  le  of  highly  beitfficial  influence,  to  the,  country 
within  vhose  limits  it  is  permitte-.  to  exist. 

"The  Committee  feel  authorized  to  say  that  this 
system  is  cherished  by  our  constituents  as  the  -very 
palladium  of  their  prosjienty  and  hai>pinrsfs,  and  what 
ever  ignorant  fanatics  may  elsewhere  conject  ire,  the 
Committee  are  fully  assured,  upon  Che  most  diligent 
observation  and  reflection  on  ihe  subject  that  the 
South  <ii,es  ?  o'  possess  within  tier  limits  «  blessing  with 
which  the  auctions  of  her  peo  le  are  so  closely  nt/wmetl 
and  so  completely  ei-fibred,  and  whose  value  is  more 
highly  appreciated,  than  that  which  we  are  now  con 
sidering. 

"It  may  not  be  improper  here  to  remark,  that  du 
ring  the  lust  session  of  Congress,  when  a  Senator  from 
MiU'Mippi  proposed  the  acknowledgment  of  Texian 
independence,  it  wan  found,  with  a  ft  w  exceptions,  the 
members  of  that,  body  were  n-ady  to  take  ground  upon 
it,  as  upon  the  subject  of  Slavery  itself. 

"  With  all  these  tacts  before  us,  we  do  not  hesitate 
in  believing  ihat  these  feelings  influenced  ihe  New 
Eng  and  Senators,  but  one  voting  in  tavor  of  the  mea 
sure;  ano,  indeed,  Mr.  Webster  has  been  bold  enough, 
iu  a  public  speech  recently  delivered  in  New  York,  to 
many  thousand  citizens,  to  decla>e  that  the  reason 
that  influenced  his  opposit'on  was  his  abhorrence  to 
Slavery  in  the  South,  at.d  that  it  mi.L'ht,  in  the  event 
of  its  recognition,  become  a  slaveholding  State.  He 
also  spoke  of  the  efforts  making  in  fsvor  of  Abolition; 
and  that  being  pjedira'ed  upon,  and  aide  i  bv  the  pow 
erful  influence  of  religious  feeling,  it  would  become 
irresistible  and  overwhelming. 

'•  This  language,  coming  from  FO  distinguished  an 
individual  as  Mr.  Webster,  so  familiar  with  the  feelings 
of  the  North  and  entertaining  so  high  a  resoect  for 
nublic  sentiment  in  New  England,  speaks  so  plainly 
the  voice  of  the  Nonh  as  not  to  be  misunderstood. 

''We  sincerely  hope  there  is  enough  good  sense 
and  genuine  love  of  country  among  our  fellow-coun 
trymen  of  the  Northern  States,  to  stcure  us  Jlnal  jus 
tice  on  this  siihjei-.t  ;  yet  we  cannot  consider  it  safe  or 
expedient  for  the  people  <  f  the  South  to  entirely  dis 
regard  the  efforts  of  the  fanatics,  and  the  opinions  of 
such  men  as  Web-ster,  and  others  who  countenance 
such  dangerous  doctrines. 

'•  The  Northern  States  have  no  in'erests  of  their 
own  which  require  an\  special  safeguards  for  their 
defense,  sav^  o>ly  their  dome.--tic  manufactures  ;  and 
God  knows  fhey  hive  already  received  protection  from 
Government  on  a  most  liberal  scale;  under  which  en 
couragement  thev  have  improved  and  flourished  be 
yond  example.  The  South  has  very  peculiar  interests 
'to  preserve :  interests  already  violently  assailed  and 
boldly  'hreatened. 

"  Your  Committee  are  fully  persunded  that  this  pro 
tection  to  hrr  I'est  interests  wilt  tie  nffordnd  by  the  an- 
nexnti'-n  of  Texas  ;  an  equipoise  of  influence  in  the 
halls  of  Congress  trill  be  seturfd  which  will  furnish  us 
a  permanent  guarantee  (f  protection." 

The  speech  of  Mr.  Adams,  exposing  the  whole 
system  of  duplicity  and  perfidy  toward  Mexico, 
had  marked  the  conduct  of  our  Government ;  and 
the  emphatic  expressions  of  opposition  which 
began  to  come  up  from  all  parties  in  the  Free 
States,  however,  for  a  time,  nearly  silenced  the 
clamors  of  ihe  South  for  annexation,  and  the  peo 
ple  of  the  North  have  been  lulled  into  the  belief, 
that  the  project  is  nearly,  if  not  wholly  abandoned, 
and  that,  at  least,  there  is  now  no  serious  danger 
of  its  consummation. 

Believing  this  to  be  a  false  and  dangerous  se 
curity  ;  that  the  project  has  never  been  aban 
doned  a  moment,  by'its  originators  and  nbettors, 
but  that  it  has  been  deferred  for  a  more  favorable 
moment  for  its  accomplishment,  we  refer  to  a  few- 
evidences  of  more  recent  development  upon 
which  this  opinion  is  founded. 

The  last  Election  of  President  of  the  Republic 
of  Texas,  is  understood  to  have  turned,  mainly, 
upon  the  question  of  annexation  or  no  annex 
ation,  and  the  candidate  favorable  to  that  mea 
sure  was  successful  by  an  overwhelming  majority. 


34 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  SLAVERY   RESTRICTION. 


The  sovereign  States  of  Alabama,  Tennessee,  and 
Mississippi,  have  recently  adopted  Resolutions, 
some,  if  not  all  of  them,  unanimously,  in  favor  of 
annexation,  and  forwarded  them  to  Congress. 

The  Hon.  HENRY  A.  WISE,  a  member  of  Con 
gress  from  the  District  in  which  our  present 
Chief  Magistrate  resided  when  elected  Vice-Presi 
dent,  and  who  is  understood  to  be  more  intimately 
acquainted  with  the  views  and  designs  of  the  pre 
sent  administration  than  any  other  member  of 
Congress,  most  distinctly  avowed  his  desire  for, 
and  expectation  of  annexation,  at  the  last  session 
of  Congress.  Among  other  things,  he  said,  in  a 
speech  delivered  January  26, 1842  : 

"  True,  if  Iowa  be  added  on  the  one  side,  Florida 
will  be  added  on  the  other.  But  there  the  equation 
must  stop.  Let  one  more  Northern  St  >te  be  admitted, 
and  the  equilibrium  is  gone — gone  forever.  The  bal 
ance  of  interests  is  gone — the  safeguard  of  American 
propt-rty-of  ttie  American  Constitution— of  the  Ameri 
can  Union,  vanished  into  thiu  air.  This  mu«t  bf,  the, 
inevitable  result,  unless  by  a  treaty  tilth  Mexico,  THE 

SOUTH  CAN  ADD  MORE  WEIGHT  TO  HER  END  OF  THE 

LEVER  !  Let  the  South  st/.p  at  ti<e  Stibine,  (the  east 
ern  boundary  of  Texas.)  while  the  North  may  spread 
unchecked  beyond  the  Rocky  Mountains,  AND  THE 
SOUTHERN  SCALE  MUST  KICK.  THE  BEAM!" 

Finding  difficulties,  perhaps,  in  the  way  of  a  ces 
sion  by  Treaty,  in  another  speech  delivered  in 
April,  1842,  on  a  motion  made  by  Mr.  Linn,  of 
N.  Y.,  to  strike  out  the  salary  of  the  Minister  to 
Mexico,  on  the  ground  that  the  design  of  the  Ex 
ECUTIVE,  iii  making  the  appointment,  was  to  ac 
complish  the  annexation  of  Texas,  Mr.  Wise  said, 
"  he  earnestly  hoped  and  trusted  that  the  Presi 
dent  was  as  desirous  (of  annexation)  as  he  was 
represented  to  be.  We  may  well  suppose  the 
President  to  be  in  favor  of  it,  as  every  wise  states 
man  must  be  who  is  not  governed  by  fanati 
cism,  or  local  sectional  prejudices." 
Heeaid  of  Texas,  that 

*'  While  she  was  as  a  State,  weak  and  almost  pow 
erless  in  resisting  invasion,  she  was  herself  irresisti 
ble  as  an  invading  and  a  conq  .ering  power.  She  had 
but  a  sparse  population,  and  neither  men  nor  money 
of  her  own,  to  raise  and  equip  an  army  for  her  own 
defense,  but  let  her  once  rai^e  the  flag  of  foreign  con 
quest — let  her  once  proclaim  a  crusade  against  the 
rich  States  to  the  south  of  her,  and  in  a  moment 
volunteers  would  flock  to  her  standard  in  crowds.y/ow 
all  the  States  in  the  great  valley  of  the  Mississippi — 
men  of  enterprise  and  valor,  before  whom  no  Mexican 
troops  could  stand  for  an  hour.  They  would  leave 
their  own  towns,  arm  themselves,  and  travel  on  their 
own  cost,  and  would  come  up  in  thousands,  to  plant 
the  lone  st  ir  of  the  Texan  banner  on  the  Mexican 
capitol.  They  would  drive  Santa  Anna  to  the  South, 
and  the  boundless  wealth  of  captured  towns,  and  rifled 
churches,  and  a  lazy,  vicious,  and  luxurious  priest 
hood,  would  soon  enable  Texas  to  pay  her  soldiery, 
and  redeem  her  State  debt,  and  pu-h  her  victorious 
arms  to  the  very  shores  of  the  Pacific.  And  would 
not  all  'his  extend  the  bounds  of  Slavery  ?  Yes,  the 
result  would  be,  that  before  another  quarter  of  a  cen 
tury,  the  extension  of  Slavery  would  not  stop  short  of 
the  Western  Ocean.  We  had  but  two  alternatives  be 
fore  us  ;  either  to  receive  Texas  into  our  fraternity  of 
States,  a^d  thus  make  her  our  own,  or  to  leave  her  to 
conqutr  Mexico,  and  become  our  most  dangerous  and 
formidable  rival. 

"To  talk  of  restraining  the  people  of  the  great  Val 
ley  from  emigrating  to  join  her  armies,  was  all  in 
vain  ;  and  it  was  equally  vain  to  calculate  on  their 
defeat  by  any  Mexican  forces,  aided  by  England  or  not. 
They  had  gone  once  already;  it  was  they  that  conquered 
Santa  Anna  at  San  Jacinto ;  and  three-fourths  of 
them,  after  winning  that  glorious  field,  had  peaceably 
returned  to  their  homes.  But  once  set  before  them 
the  conquest  of  the  rich  Mexican  provinces,  and  you 
might  at  well  attempt  to  stop  the  wind.  This  Govern 
ment  might  send  its  troops  to  the  frontier,  to  turn 
them  back,  and  they  would  run  over  them  like  a  herd 
of  buffalo." 

"Nothing  could  keep  these  booted  loafers  from  rush 
ing  on,  till  they  kicked  the  Spanish  priests  out  of  the 
temples  they  profaned." 

Mr.  W.  proceeded  to  insist  that  a  majority  of  the 
people  of  the  United  States  were  in  favor  of  the  an 


nexation  ;  at  all  events,  he  would  risk  it  with  the  De 
mocracy  of  the  North. 

'•  Sir  "  saM  M >•.  W..  "i<-  is  not  only  the  duty  of  the 
Government  to  demand  the  liquidation  of  our  *laiin», 
and  the  liberation  of  our  citizen*,  but  to  no  further, 
ami  demand  the  non-invasion  of  Texas.  Shall  we  sit 
still  while  the  standard  of  insurrection  is  raised  on 
our  borders  and  let  a  hord*  (if  staves,  and  Indians, 
and  Mexicans  r>  II  up  to  the  boundary  line  of  Arkansas 
und  L(,uisana?  No.  It  is  our  duty  at  ouce  to  say  to 
Mexico.  '//  you  strike  T<x»s  you  st/ike  »/s;'  and  if 
Engjhud,  standing  by  t-honld  dare  to  intermeddle,  and 
ask.  '  Do  you  lake  part  uith  Texas?'  bis  piompt  an 
swer  nhould  be,  '  Yes,  and  against  you.' 

'•  Such,  he  would  let  gentlemen  know,  was  the  spirit 
of  the  wnole  people  of  the  gieat  valley  of  the  West," 

Several  other  members  of  Congress,  in  the 
same  debate,  expressed  similar  views  and  desires, 
and  they  are  still  more  frequently  expressed  in 
conversation. 

The  Hon.  THO'S  W.  GILMKR,  a  member  of  Con 
gress  from  Virginia,  and  formerly  a  Governor  of 
that  State,  numbered  as  one  of  the  "  Guard,"  and 
of  course  understood  to  be  in  the  counsels  of  the 
Cabinet,  in  a  letter  bearing  date  the  10th  day  of 
January  hist,  originally  designed  as  a  private  and 
confidential  letter  to  a  friend,  gives  it  as  his 
deliberate  opinion,  after  much  examination  and 
reflection,  that  TKXAS  WILL  BE  ANNEXED  TO  THE 
UNION  ;  and  he  enters  into  a  spacious  argument, 
and  presents  a  variety  of  reasons  in  favor  of  the 
measure,  lie  says,  among  other  things  : 

WASHINGTON,  Jan.  10th,  1843. 

"DEAR  SIR— You  ask  if  I  have  expressed  the  opin 
ion,  that  Texas  would  be  annexed  to  the  I'nited 
States.  I  amwer,  yes  ;  and  this  opinion  h;js  not  been 
adopted  without  reflection,  or  without  a  careful  obser 
vation  of  causes,  which  I  believe  are  rapid  y  bringing 
about  thi*  result,.  I  do  not  know  how  far  these 
causes  have  made  the  same  impres>ion  on  others; 
but  I  am  persuaded  that  the  timf>  is  not,  distant  when 
they  will  be  felt  in  all  their  force.  The  excitement 
which  you  apprehend.  m;iy  arise;  but  it  will  be  tem 
porary,  and  in  the  end,  salutary." 

He  dodges  the  Constitutional  objections  as  fol 
lows  : 

"  I  am,  as  you  know,  a  strict  constructionist  of  the 
powers  of  our  federal  Government  ;  and  I  do  not  ad 
mit  the  force  of  mere  precedent,  to  establish  authority 
under  written  constitutions.  The  power  conferred  by 
the  Constitution  over  our  firreigu  relations,  and  the 
repeated  acquisitions  of  territory  under  it,  seem  to  mo 
to  leave  this  question  open  as  one  of  expediency." 

"But  you  anticipate  objections  with  regard  to  the 
subject  of  Slavery.  Thi*  ig  indeed  a  subject  of  extreme 
delicacy,  but  it  is  one  on  which  the  annexation  <f  Tex 
as  trill  have  the  most  salutary  influence.  Some  have 
thought  that  th«  proposition  would  endanger  our 
Union.  I  am  of  a  different  opinion.  I  brlitve  it  will 
bring  about  a  better  understanding  of  our  relative 
rights  and  obligations." 

In  conclusion,  he  says  : 

""  Having  acquired  Louisiana  and  Florida,  we  have 
an  interest  atid  a  frontier  on  the  Gulf  of.  Mexico,  and 
along  our  interior  to  the  Pacific,  which  will  not  per 
mit  us  to  close  our  eyes,  or-fold  our  arms  with  indif 
ference  to  the  events  which  a  few  years  may  disclose 
in  that  quarter,  We  have  already  had  one  quesiion 
of  boundary  with  Texas;  other  questions  mu-t  coon 
arise,  under  our  revenue  laws,  and  on  other  points  of 
necessary  intercourse,  which  it  will  be  difficult  toad- 
just.  The  institutions  of  Texas,  and  hur  relations 
with  other  governments,  are  yet  in  tha'  condition  winch 
inclines  her  people  (who  are  our  countrymen.)  to  unite 
their  destinies  with  ours.  THIS  MOST  B;  DONE  SOON, 
OR  NOT  AT  ALL.  There  are  numerous  tribes  of  Indians 
along  both  frontiers,  which  can  easily  become  the 
cause  or  the  instrument  of  border  wars.  Our  own 
population  is  pressing  onward  to  the  Pacific.  No 
power  can  restrain  it.  The  pioneer  from  our  Atlantic 
seaboard  will  so  >n  kindle  his  fires,  and  erect  his  cabin, 
beyond  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  on  the  Gulf  of 
California.  If  Mahomed  comes  not  to  the  moun 
tain,  the  mountain  will  go  to  Mahomed.  Every  year 
adds  new  difficulties  to  our  progress,  aa  natural  and  as 


THE  ANNEXATION  OF  TEXAS. 


inevitable  as  the  current  of  the  Mississippi.     Those 
difficulties  wiil  soon,    like  mountains  interposed,' — 
"Make  enemies  of  nations, 

Which  now.  like  kiodred  drops, 

Mtglit  mingle  into  one.' 

*'  Truly  yours, 

"THOMAS  W.  GILMER." 

The  impoverished  condition  of  Texas,  her  ina 
bility  to  raise  and  sustain  troops  to  defend  herself 
against  invasion  for  any  length  of  time,  and  her 
want  of  character  and  credit  abroad,  are  urged  as 
reasons  for  IMMEDIATE:  ANNKXATION,  and  the 
opinion  has  been  frequently  expressed,  by  those 
who  feel  a  deep  interest  in  this  subject,  that  it 
would  take  place  AT  A  VERY  EARLY  DAY  IN  THE 

NEXT  SESSION  OF  CONGRESS  ! 

At  the  present  session,  the  Resolutions  of  the 
State  of  Alabama,  in  favor  of  annexation,  and 
sundry  petitions  and  remonstrances  against  it, 
were  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Rela 
tions.  A  majority  of  the  Committee,  consisting 
of  members  from  the  slaveholding  States,  refused 
to  consider  and  report  upon  the  subject,  and  di 
rected  Mr.  Adams,  their  Chairman,  to  report  a 
resolution,  asking  to  be  discharged  from  the  fur 
ther  consideration  of  the  subject,  which  he  did  on 
the  28th  day  of  February.  At  the  same  time,  Mr. 
Adams  asked,  as  an  individual  member  of  the 
Committee,  for  leave  to  present  the  following 
resolutions: 

"  Rfiso/ved,  That  by  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States,  no  power  is  delegated  to  their  Congress,  or 
to  any  department  or  departments  of  their  Govern 
ment,  to  affix  to  this  Union  any  foreign  State,  or  the 
people  thereof. 

"Resolved,  Tnat  any  attempt  of  the  Government 
of  the  United  States,  by  an  act  of  Congress,  or  by 
treafy,  to  annex  to  this  Union  the  Republic  of  Texas, 
or  the  people- thereof,  would  be  a  violation  of  the 
Constitu'ion  of  the  United  States,  null  and  void,  and 
to  which  the  Fr«-e  States  of  this  Union,  and  their  peo 
ple,  ought  not  to  submit." 

Objections  being  made,  the  resolutions  were  not 
received  ;  the  Southern  members  showing  a  disin 
clination  to  have  the  subject  agitated  in  the  House 
at  present.  Might  it  not  be  considered  as  savor 
ing  too  much  of  a  violation  of  private  confidence, 
we  could  refer  to  various  declarations  of  persons 
high  in  office  in  the  national  government,  avow 
ing  a  fixed  determination  to  bring  Texas  into  the 
Union,  declaring  that  they  had  assurances  of  the 
aid  of  the  Free  States  to  accomplish  the  object, 
and  insisting  that  they  prefer  a  dissolution  of  the 
Union  to  the  rejection  of  Texas,  expressing,  how 
ever,  at  the  same  time,  their  confidence,  that  if 
the  annexation  could  be  effected,  the  people  of 
the  Free  States  would  submit  to  it,  and  the  insti 
tutions  of  the  Slave  States  would  be  secured  and 
perpetuated.  Contenting  ourselves,  however, 
with  the  above  brief  glance  at  some  of  the  most 
prominent  evidence  in  relation  to  the  subject,  we 
submit  to  you  whether  the  project  of  annexation 
seems  to  be  abandoned,  and  whether  there  be  not 
the  most  imminent  danger  of  its  speedy  accom 
plishment,  unless  the  entire  mass  of  the  people  in 
the  Free  States  become  aroused  to  a  conviction  of 
this  danger,  and  speak  out,  and  act  in  reference 
to  it,  in  a  manner  and  with  a  voice  not  to  be  mis 
understood,  either  by  the  people  of  the  Slave 
States,  or  their  own  public  servants  and  Repre 
sentatives. 

Although  perfectly  aware  that  many  important 
and  controlling  objections  to  annexation  exist 
aside  from  the  question  of  Slavery,  we  have  in 
this  address  confined  ourselves  principally  to  that, 
because  of  its  paramount  importance,  and 
because  the  advocates  of  annexation  distinctly 

place  it  upon  that  ground most  of  the  specious 

arguments  and  reasons  in  favor  of  annexation, 
with  which  its  advocates  Attempt  to  gild  the  pill 
for  Northern  palates,  are  just  about  as  sincere  and 
substantial  as  were  those  of  Mr.  WISE  in  the 


speech  above  referred  to,  in  which  he  labored  a 
long  time  to  convince  Northern  philanthropists 
that  they  would  best  promote  the  objects  they  had 
in  view,  by  favoring  annexation,  that  they  might 
have  Slavery  in  Texas  within  the  power  and  con 
trol  of  our  own  government,  that  they  might 
abolish  it  or  mitigate  its  evils,  he  himself  being 
an  advocate  of  perpetual  Slavery,  and  among  the 
very  foremost  to  trample  upon  the  right  of  petition 
itself! ! 

None  can  be  so  blind  now,  as  not  to  know  that 
the  real  design  and  object  of  the  South  is,  to  "ADD 

NEW  WEIGHT  TO    HER    END    OF  THE  LEVER."      It 

was  upon  that  ground  that  Mr.  Webster  placed 
his  opposition,  in  his  speech  on  that  subject  in 
New-York,  in  March,  1837.  In  that  speech,  after 
stating  that  he  saw  insurmountable  objections  to 
the  annexation  of  Texas,  that  the  purchase  of 
Louisiana  and  Florida  furnished  no  precedent  for 
it,  that  the  cases  were  not  parallel,  and  that  no 
such  policy  or  necessity  as  led  to  that,  required 
the  annexation  of  Texas,  he  said  : 

"  Gentlemen,  we  all  see,  that  by  whomsoever  pos 
sessed,  Texas  is  likely  to  be  a  slavehoMing  country; 
and  I  fraokly  avow  my  entire  unwillingness  to  do  any 
thing  which  shall  extend  the  Slavery  of  the  African 
race  on  this  continent,  or  add  other  slaveholding 
States  to  the  Union.  When  1  s«y  that  I  regard  Sla 
very  in  itself  a  great  moral,  social,  and  political  evil, 
I  ouly  use  language  which  h*s  been  adopted  by  ois- 
tinguiahed  men,  themselves  citizens  of  slaveholding 
States.  I  shall  do  noihing,  therefore,  to  favor  or  en 
courage  its  further  extension." 

And  again,  he  said  : 

"  In  my  opinion,  the  people  of  the  United  States 
will  not  consent  to  bring  a  uew,  vastly  extensive,  and 
slaveholding  country,  large  enough  for  half  a  dozen 
or  a  dozen  Sta'es,  iuto  tbe  Union.  IN  MY  OPINION 
THEY  OUGHT  NOT  TO  CONSENT  TO  IT.  Indeed  I  am 
altogethei  at  a  loss  to  c  nceive  what  possible  benefit 
any  part  of  this  country  can  expect  to  derive  from 
such  annexation.  All  benefit,  to  any  part,  is  at  least 
doubtful  and  n.tertain.  the  objec'iou.s  obvious,  plain, 
and  st'ong.  On  the  gentral  question  of  Slavery,  a 
great  portion  of  the  community  is  already  strongly 
excited.  The  subject  has  not  only  attracted  atten 
tion  as  a  question  of  politic*,  but  it  has  struck  a 
far  deeper-toned  cord — it  has  arrested  the  religious 
feeling  of  the  country;  it  has  taken  a  strong  hold 
on  the  consciences  ol  men.  He  is  a  rash  man,  in 
deed,  and  l.ti.le  conversant  with  human  nature,  and 
especially  has  he  a  very  ernneous  estimate  of  the 
character  of  the  people  of  this  country,  who  sup- 
posen  that  a  feeling  of  this  kind  is  to  be  trifled  with, 
or  despised.  It  will  assuredly  cause  itself  to  be  re 
spected." 

In  conclusion  he  said  : 

"I  see.  therefore,  no  political  necessity  for  the  an 
nexation  of  Texas  to  the  Union;  no  advantages  to 
be  derived  from  it;  and  objections  to  it  of  a  strong, 
and,  in  rny  judgment,  decisive  character. 

"I  believe  it  to  be  for  the  interest  and  happiness 
of  the  whole  Union,  to  remain  as  it  is,  without  dimi 
nution  and  without  addition." 

We  hold  that  there  is  not  only  "  no  political  ne 
cessity"  for  it,  "  no  advantages  to  be  derived 
from  it,"  but  that  there  is  no  constitutional  power 
delegated  to  any  department  of  the  national  gov 
ernment  to  authorize  it ;  that  no  act  of  Congress, 
or  treaty,  for  annexation,  can  impose  the  least 
obligation  upon  the  several  States  of  this  Union 
to  submit  to  such  an  unwarrantable  act.  or  to  re 
ceive  into  their  family  and  fraternity  such  misbe 
gotten  and  illegitimate  progeny. 

We  hesitate  not  to  say,  that  annexation,  effect 
ed  by  any  act  or  proceeding  of  the  Federal  Gov 
ernment,  or  any  of  its  departments,  WOULD  BE 

IDENTICAL    WITH    DISSOLUTION        It   Would  _be  a 

violation  of  our  national  compact,  its  objects, 
designs,  and  the  great  elementary  principles 
which  entered  into  its  formation,  of  a  character  so 

deep  and  fundamental and  would  be  an  attempt 

to  eternize  an  institution  and  a  power  of  a  nature 


THE   STRUGGLE   FOR   SLAVERY    RESTRICTION. 


so  unjust  in  themselves,  so  injurious  to  the  inter 
ests  and  abhorrent  to  the  feelings  of  the  people  of 
the  Free  States,  as,  in  our  opinion,  not  only  in 
evitably  to  result  in  a  dissolution  of  the  Union, 
but  fully  to  justify  it ;  and  we  not  only  assert  that 
the  people  of  the  Free  States  "  ought  not  to  sub 
mit  to  it,"  but  we  say,  with  confidence,  THKY 
WOULD  NOT  SUBMIT  TO  IT.  We  know  their  pres 
ent  temper  and  spirit  on  this  subject  too  well  to 
believe  for  a  moment  that  they  would  become 
particeps  criminis  in  any  such  subtle  contrivance 
for  the  irremediable  perpetuation  OF  AN  INSTITU 
TION,  which  the  wisest  and  best  men  who  formed 
our  Federal  Constitution,  as  well  from  the  Slave 
as  the  Free  States,  regarded  as  an  evil  and  a 
curse,  soon  to  become  extinct  under  the  operation 
of  laws  to  be  passed,  prohibiting  the  Slave  Trade, 
and  the  progressive  influence  ot  the  principles  of 
the  Revolution. 

To  prevent  the  success  of  this  nefarious  project 
to  preserve  from  such  gross  violation  the  Con 
stitution  of  our  country,  adopted  expressly  "  to 
secure  the  blessings  of  Liberty y '  and  not  the  per 
petuation  of  Slavery and  to  prevent  the  speedy 

and  violent  dissolution  of  the  Union — we  invite 
you  to.  unite,  without  distinction  of  party,  in  an 
immediate  expression  of  your  views  on  this  sub 
ject,  in  such  manner  as  you  may  deem  best  cal 
culated  to  answer  the  end  proposed. 

JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS. 
SKI'H   W.   GATES. 
•WILLIAM  :sLAUE. 
WILLIAM   B.  CALHOUN, 
JOSHUA  R.  GIDDINUS, 
SHEttLOCK   J.  ANDREWS, 
NATHANIEL  B.  BO  R  DEN, 
THO'S  0.  CHILTENDEX, 
JOHN   MATIOUK3 
CHRISTOPHER  MORGAN, 
JOtHUA  M.   HOWAKD, 
VICTORY  BIKDSEYE, 
HILAND  HALL. 
WASHINGTON,  March  3rd,  1843. 


s The  above  Address  was  drawn  up  by 

Hon.  Seth  M.  Gates  of  New  York,  at  the  sugges 
tion  of  John  Quincy  Adams,  and  sent  to  Members 
of  Congress  at  their  residences,  after  the  close  of 
the  session,  for  their  signatures.  Many  more  than 
the  above  approved  heartily  of  its  positions  and 
objects,  and  would  have  signed  it,  but  for  its 
premature  publication,  through  mistake.  Mr. 
Winthrop  of  Mass,  was  one  of  these,  with  Gov. 
Briggs,  of  course  :  Mr.  Fillmore  declined  signing 
it.]  

The  letters  of  Messrs.  Clay  and  Van 
Buren,  taking  ground  against  annexation, 
without  the  consent  of  Mexico,  as  an  act  of 
bad  faith  and  aggression,  which  would  ne 
cessarily  result  in  war,  which  appeared  in 
the  spring  of  1844,  make  slight  allusions,  if 
any,  to  the  Slavery  aspect  of  the  case.  In 
a  later  letter,  Mr.  Clay  declared  that  he  did 
not  oppose  annexation  on  account  of  Slave 
ry,  which  he  regarded  as  a  temporary  institu 
tion,  which,  therefore,  ought  not  to  stand  in 
the  way  of  a  permanent  acquisition.  And, 
though  Mr.  Clay's  last  letter  on  the  subject, 
prior  to  the  election  of  1844,  reiterated  and 
emphasized  all  his  objections  to  annexation 
under  the  existing  circumstances,  he  did  not 
include  the  existence  of  Slavery. 

The  defeat  of  Mr.  Van  Buren,  at  the  Bal- 


timore  Nominating  Convention  —  Mr.  Polk 
being  selected  in  his  stead,  by  a  body  which 
had  been  supposed  pledged  to  renominate 
the  ex-President  —  excited  considerable  feel 
ing,  especially  among  the  Democrats  of  New 
York.  A  number  of  their  leaders  united  in 
a  letter,  termed  the  "  Secret  Circular,"  ad 
vising  their  brethren,  while  they  supported 
Polk  and  Dallas,  to  be  careful  to  vote  for 
candidates  for  Congress  who  would  set  their 
faces  as  a  flint  against  annexation.  Here  is 
the  circular  : 

'  SIR  —  You  will,  doubtless,  agree  with  us,  that 
the  late  Baltimore  Convention  placed  the  Demo 
cratic  Party,  at  the  North,  in  a  position  of  great 
difficulty.  We  are  constantly  reminded  that 
it  rejected  Mr.  Van  Buren,  and  nominated  Mr. 
Polk,  for  reasons  connected  with  the  immediate 
annexation  of  Texas  —  reasons  which  had  no  rela 
tion  to  the  principles  of  the  party.  Nor  was  that 
all.  The  Convention  went  beyond  the  authority 
delegated  to  its  members,  and'  adopted  a  resolu 
tion  on  the  subject  of  Texas  (a  subject  not  before 
the  country  when  they  were  elected,  upon  which, 
therefore,  they  were  not  instructed),  which  seeks 
to  interpolate  into  the  party  creed  a  new  doc 
trine,  hitherto  unknown  among  us,  at  war  with 
some  of  our  established  principles,  and  abhorrent 
to  the  opinions  and  feelings  of  a  great  majority 
of  Northern  freemen.  In  this  position,  what  was 
the  party  at  the  North  to  do  ?  Was  it  to  reject 
the  nominations,  and  abandon  the  contest  '.'  or 
should  it  support  the  nominations,  rejecting  the 
untenable  doctrine  interpolated  at  the  Conven 
tion,  and  taking  care  that  their  support  should  be 
accompanied  by  such  an  expression  of  their  opin 
ion  as  to  prevent  its  being  misinterpreted?  The 
latter  alternative  has  been  preferred,  and  we 
think  wisely  ;  for  we  conceive  that  a  proper  ex 
pression  of  their  opinion  will  save  their  votes 
from  misconstruction,  and  that  proper  efforts  will 
secure  the  nomination  of  such  Members  of  Con 
gress  as  will  reject  the  unwarrantable  scheme  now 
pressed  upon  the  country. 

"  With  these  views,  assuming  that  you  feel  on 
this  subject  as  we  do,  we  have  been  desired  to 
address  you,  and  invite  the  cooperati'in  of  your 
self  and  other  friends  throughout  the  State  : 

"  1st.  —  In  the  publication  of  a  joint  letter,  de 
claring  your  purpose  to  support  the  nomination, 
rejecting  the  resolutions  respecting  Texas. 

"  2nd.  —  In  promoting  and  supporting  at  the 
next  elections  the  nomination  for  Congress  of 
such  persons  as  concur  in  these  opinions. 

"  If  your  views  in  this  matter  coincide  with 
ours,  please  write  to  some  one  of  us,  and  a 
draught,  of  the  proposed  letter  will  be  forwarded 
for  examination. 


"  Very  respectfully, 
"  GEO.  P. 


BARKER, 

WILLIAM  C.  BRYANT, 
j:  W.  EDMONDS, 
DAVID   DUDLEY  FIELD, 
THKODOKE  SEKG^luK, 
'JHOMAS  W.  TUCKER, 
ISAAC  TOWNSEND." 

Silas  Wright,  then  a  Senator  of  the 
United  States,  and  who,  as  such,  had  opposed 
the  Tyler  Treaty  of  Annexation,  was  now 
run  for  Governor,  as  the  only  man  who 
could  carry  the  State  of  New  York  for  Polk 
and  Dallas.  In  a  democratic  speech  at 
Skaneateles,  N.  Y.,  Mr.  Wright  had  recently 
declared  that  he  could  never  consent  to  An 
nexation  on  any  terms  which  would  give 
Slavery  an  advantage  over  Freedom.  This 


THE  ANNEXATION   OF   TEXAS. 


37 


sentiment  was  reiterated  and  amplified  in  a 
a  great  Convention  of  the  Democracy,  which 
met  at  Herkimer,  in  the  autumn  of  this  year. 
The  contest  proceeded  with  great  earnest 
ness  throughout  the  Free  States,  the  sup 
porters  of  Folk  and  of  Birney  (the  Aboli 
tion  candidate  for  President),  fully  agreeing 
in  the  assertion  that  Mr.  Clay's  position  was 
equally  favorable  to  Annexation  with  Mr 
Folk's.  Mr.  Birney,  in  a  letter  publishec 
on  the  eve  of  the  Election,  declared  that  he 
regarded  Mr.  Clay's  election  as  more  favor 
able  to  Annexation  than  Mr.  Folk's,  because 
while  equally  inclined  to  fortify  and  extern 
Slavery,  he  possessed  more  ability  to  influ 
ence  Congress  in  its  favor.  He  says  : 

"  I  have  no  reasons  for  opposing  Mr.  Clay  on 
personal  grounds.  On  the  contrary,  the  inter 
course  we  have  had  has  been  of  the  most  friendlj 
character.  I  oppose  his  election,  because  he  dis 
believes  the  great  political  truths  of  the  Declare 
tion  of  Independence,  the  foundation  of  all  jusl 
government,  and  because  he  repudiates  the  para 
mount  objects  of  the  Union,  the  perpetuation  of 
liberty  to  all.  On  the  same  ground,  I  oppose  the 
election  of  Mr.  Polk.  But  I  more  deprecate  the 
ejection  of  Mr.  Clay — because,  possessing  abili 
ties  superior  to  Mr.  Folk's,  he  would  proportion 
ately  weaken  the  influence  of  those  truths  on  the 
minds  of  our  countrymen. 

"Respectfully,  &c., 

"  JAMES  G.  BIRNEY.' 


Before  this  time,  but  as  yet  withheld  from 
and  unknown  to,  the  public,  Mr.  Calhoun, 
now  President  Tyler's  Secretary  of  State, 
and  an  early  and  powerful  advocate  of  An 
nexation,  had  addressed  to  Hon.  Wm.  R. 
King,  our  Embassador  at  Paris,  the  follow 
ing  official  dispatch  : 

Mr*  Calhoun  to  Mr.  King. 

"  DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 

Washington,  August  12,  1844. 
"  SIR — I  have  laid  your  dispatch,  No.  1,  before 
the  President,  who  instructs  me  to  make  known 
to  you  that  he  has  read  it  with  much  pleasure, 
especially  the  portion  which  relates  to  your  cor 
dial  reception  by  the  King,  and  his  assurance  of 
friendly  feelings  toward  the  United  States.  The 
President,  in  particular,  highly  appreciates  the 
declaration  of  the  King,  that,  in  no  event,  would 
any  steps  be  taken  by  his  government  in  the 
slightest  degree  hostile,  or  which  would  give  to 
the  United  States  just  cause  of  complaint.  It 
was  the  more  gratifying  from  the  fact,  that  our 
previous  information  was  calculated  to  make  the 
impression  that  the  government  of  France  was 
prepared  to  unite  with  Great  Britain  in  a  joint 
protest  against  the  annexation  of  Texas,  and  a 
joint  effort  to  induce  her  Government  to  with 
draw  the  proposition  to  annex,  on  condition  that 
Mexico  should  be  made  to  acknowledge  her  in 
dependence.  He  is  happy  to  infer  from  your 
dispatch  that  the  information,  so  far  as  it  relates 
to  France,  is,  in  all  probability,  without  founda 
tion.  You  did  not  go  further  than  you  ought,  in 
assuring  the  King  that  the  object  of  Annexation 
would  be  pursued  with  unabated  vigor,  and  in 

S'ving  your  opinion  that  a  decided  majority  of 
e  American  people  were  in  its  favor,  and  that 
it  would  certainly  be  annexed  at  no  distant  day. 
I  feel  confident  that  your  anticipation  will  be 
fnlly  realized  at  no  distant  period. 


"  Every  day  will  tend  to  weaken  that  combi 
nation  of  political  causes  which  led  to  the  opposi 
tion  of  the  measure,  and  to  strengthen  the 
conviction  that  it  was  not  only  expedient,  but 
just  and  necessary. 

"  You  were  right  in  making  the  distinction  be 
tween  the  interests  of  France  and  England  in 
reference  to  Texas — or  rather,  I  should  say,  the 
apparent  interests  of  the  two  countries.  France 
cannot  possibly  have  any  other  than  commercial 
interests  in  desiring  to  see  her  preserve  her  sepa 
rate  independence,  while  it  is  certain  that  England 
looks  beyond,  to  political  interests,  to  which  she 
apparently  attaches  much  importance.  But,  in 
our  opinion,  the  interest  of  bot-h  against  the  mea 
sure  is  more  apparent  than  real ;  and  that  neither 
France,  England,  nor  even  Mexico  herself,  has 
any  in  opposition  to  it,  wh<?n  the  subject  is  fairly 
viewed  and  considered  in  its  whole  extent,  and 
in  all  its  bearings.  Thus  viewed  and  considered, 
and  assuming  that  peace,  the  extension  of  com 
merce,  and  security,  are  objects  of  primary  policy 
with  them,  it  may,  as  it  seems  to  me,  be  readily 
shown  that  the  policy  on  the  part  of  those  powers 
which  would  acquiesce  in  a  measure  so  strongly 
desired  by  both  the  United  States  and  Texas,  for 
their  mutual  welfare  and  safety,  as  the  annexation 
of  the  latter  to  the  former,  would  be  far  more 
promotive  of  these  great  objects  than  that  which 
would  attempt  to  resist  it. 

"It  is  impossible  to  cast  a  look  at  the  map  of 
the  United  States  and  Texas,  and  to  note  the  long, 
artificial  and  inconvenient  line  which  divides 
them,  and  to  take  into  consideration  the  extraor 
dinary  increase  of  population  and  growth  of 
the  former,  and  the  source  from  which  the  latter 
must  derive  its  inhabitants,  institutions,  and 
laws,  without  coming  to  the  conclusion  that  it  is 
their  destiny  to  be  united,  and  of  course,  that 
Annexation  is  merely  a  question  of  time  and 
mode.  Thus  regarded,  the  question  to  be  decided 
would  seem  to  be,  whether  it  would  not  be  better 
to  permit  it  to  be  done  now,  with  the  mutual  con 
sent  of  both  parties,  and  the  acquiescence  of 
these  powers,  than  to  attempt  to  resist  and  defeat 
it, 

"  If  the  former  course  be  adopted,  the  certain 
fruits  would  be  the  preservation  of  peace,  great 
extension  of  commerce  by  the  rapid  settlement 
and  improvement  of  Texas,  and  inert  ased  secu 
rity,  especially  to  Mexico.  The  last,  in  reference 
to  Mexico,  may  be  doubted ;  but  I  hold  it  not 
less  clear  than  the  other  two. 

"  It  would  be  a  great  mistake  to  suppose  that 
this  Government  has  any  hostile  feelings  toward 
Mexico,  or  any  disposition  to  aggrandize  itself  at 
her  expense.  The  fact  is  the  very  reverse. 

"  It  wishes  her  well,  and  desires  te  see  her  set- 
led  down  in  peace  and  security  ;  and  is  prepared, 
'n  the  event  of  the  Annexation  of  Texas,  if  not 
breed  into  conflict  with  her,  to  propose  to  settle 
with  her  the  question  of  boundary,  and  all  others 
growing  out  of  the  Annexation,  on  the  most  libe 
ral  terms.  Nature  herself  has  clearly  marked 
he  boundary  between  her  and  Texas  by  natural 
imite,  too  strong  to  be  mistaken.  There  are  few 
countries  whose  limits  are  so  distinctly  marked ; 
nd  it  would  be  our  desire,  if  Texas  should  be 
inited  to  us,  to  see  them  firmly  established,  as 
he  most  certain  means  of  establishing  permanent 
>eace  between  the  two  countries,  and  strengthen 
ing  and  cementing  their  friendship.  Such  would 
ie  the  certain  consequence  of  permitting  the  An- 
icxation  to  take  place  now,  with  the  acquiescence 
f Mexico;  but  very  different,  would  be  the  case 
f  it  should  be  attempted  to  resist  and  defeat  it, 
vhether  the  attempt  should  be  successful  for  the 
>resent  or  not.  Any  attempt  of  the  kind  would, 
lot  improbably,  lead  to  a  conflict  between  us  and 
lexico,  and  involve  consequences,  in  reference 
o  her  and  the  general  peace,  long  to  be  deplored 


38 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  SLAVERY  RESTRICTION. 


on  both  sides,  and  difficult  to  be  repaired.  But, 
should  that  not  be  the  case,  and  the  interference 
of  another  power  defeat  the  Annexation  for  the 
present,  without  the  interruption  of  peace,  it 
•would  but  postpone  the  conflict,  and  render  it 
more  fierce  and  bloody  whenever  it  might  occur. 

"  Its  defeat  would  be  attributed  to  enmity  and 
ambition  on  the  part  of  that  power  by  whose  in 
terference  it  was  occasioned,  and  excite  deep  jeal 
ousy  and  resentment  on  the  part  of  our  people, 
who  would  be  ready  to  seize  the  first  favorable 
opportunity  to  effect  by  force  what  was  prevent 
ed  from  being  done  peaceably  by  mutual  con 
sent.  It  is  not  difficult  to  see  how  greatly  such  a 
conflict,  come  when  it  might,  would  endanger 
the  general  peace,  and  how  much  Mexico  might 
be  the  loser  oy  it. 

"  In  the  mean  time,  the  condition  of  Texas 
would  be  rendered  uncertain,  her  settlement  and 
prosperity  in  consequence  retarded,  and  her  com 
merce  crippled  ;  while  the  general  peace  would 
be  rendered  much  more  insecure.  It  could  not 
but  greatly  affect  us.  If  the  Annexation  of  Texas 
should  be  permitted  to  take  place  peaceably 
now,  (as  it  would,  without  the  interference  of 
other  powers,)  the  energies  of  our  people  would, 
for  a  long  time  to  come,  be  directed  to  the  peace 
able  pursuits  of  redeeming  and  bringing  within 
the  pale  of  cultivation,  improvement,  and  civil 
ization,  that  large  portion  of  the  continent  lying 
between  Mexico  on  one  side  and  the  British 
possessions  on  the  other,  which  is  now,  with  lit 
tle  exception,  a  wilderness,  with  a  sparse  popula 
tion,  consisting,  for  the  most  part,  of  wandering 
Indian  tribes. 

"  It  is  our  destiny  to  occupy  that  vast  region  ; 
to  intersect  it  with  roads  and  canals  ;  to  fill  it  with 
cities,  towns,  villages,  and  farms  ;  to  extend  over 
it  our  religion,  customs,  constitution,  and  laws, 
and  to  present  it  as  a  peaceful  and  splendid  addi 
tion  to  the  domains  of  commerce  and  civilization. 
It  is  our  policy  to  increase  by  growing  and 
spreading  out  into  unoccupied  regions,  assimilat 
ing  all  we  incorporate  :  in  a  word,  to  increase  by 
accretion,  and  not  through  conquest,  by  the  addi 
tion  of  masses  held  together  by  the  adhesion  of 
force. 

"  No  system  can  be  more  unsuited  to  the  lat 
ter  process,  or  better  adapted  to  the  former,  than 
our  admirable  federal  system.  If  it  should  not 
be  resisted  in  its  course,  it  will  probably  fulfill  its 
destiny  without  disturbing  our  neighbors,  or 
putting  in  jeopardy  the  general  peace  ;  but  if  it 
be  opposed  by  foreign  interference,  a  new  direc 
tion  would  be  given  to  our  energy,  much  less 
favorable  to  harmony  with  our  neighbors,  and  to 
the  general  peace  of  the  world. 

"  The  change  would  be  undesirable  to  us,  and 
much  less  in  accordance  with  what  I  have  as 
sumed  to  be  primary  objects  of  policy  on  the 
part  of  France,  England,  and  Mexico. 

"  But,  to  descend  to  particulars  :  it  is  certain 
that  while  England,  like  France,  desires  the  in 
dependence  of  Texas,  with  the  view  to  commer 
cial  connections,  it  is  not  less  so  that,  one  of  the 
leading  motives  of  England  for  desiring  it,  is  the 
hope  that,  through  her  diplomacy  and  influence, 
Negro  Slavery  may  be  abolished  there,  and  ulti 
mately,  by  consequence,  in  the  United  States  and 
throughout  the  whole  of  this  continent.  That 
its  ultimate  abolition  throughout  the  entire  conti 
nent  is  an  object  ardently  desired  by  her,  we 
have  decisive  proofs  in  the  declaration  of  the 
Earl  of  Aberdeen,  delivered  to  this  Department, 
and  of  which  you  will  find  a  copy  among  the 
documents  transmitted  to  Congress  with  the 
Texan  treaty.  That  she  desires  its  abolition  in 
Texas,  and  has  used  her  influence  and  diplomacy 
to  effect  it  there,  the  same  document,  with  the 
correspondence  of  this  Department  with  Mr. 
Packeuhuni,  also  to  be  found  among  the  docu 


ments,  furnishes  proof  not  less  conclusive.  That 
one  of  the  objects  of  abolishing  it  there  is  to  fa 
cilitate  its  abolition  in  the  United  States,  arid 
throughout  the  continent,  is  manifest  from  the 
declaration  of  tile  Abolition  party  and  societies 
both  in  this  country  and  in  England.  In  fact, 
there  is  good  reason  to  believe  that  the  scheme 
of  abolishing  it  in  Texas,  with  a  view  to  its  abo 
lition  in  the  United  States,  and  over  the  conti 
nent,  originated  with  the  prominent  members  of 
the  party  in  the  United  States;  and  was  first 
broached  by  them  in  the  (so  called)  World's  Con 
vention,  held  in  London  in  the  year  1840,  and 
through  its  agency  brought  to  the  notice  of  the 
British  Government. 

"  Now,  I  hold,  not  only  that  France  can 
have  no  interest  in  the  consummation  of  this 
grand  scheme,  which  England  hopes  to  accom 
plish  through  Texas,  if  she  can  defeat  the  Annex 
ation,  but  that  her  interests,  and  those  of  all  the 
Continental  powers  of  Europe  are  directly  and 
deeply  opposed  to  it. 

"  It  is  too  late  in  the  day  to  contend  that  hu 
manity  or  philanthropy  is  the  great  object  of  the 
policy  of  England  in  attempting  to  abolish  Afri 
can  Slavery  on  this  Continent.  I  do  not  question 
but  humanity  may  have  had  a  considerable 
influence  in  abolishing  Slavery  in  her  West  India 
possessions,  aided,  indeed,  by  the  fallacious  cal 
culation  that  the  labor  of  the  Negroes  would  be 
at  least  as  profitable,  if  not  more  so,  in  conse 
quence  of  the  measure.  She  acted  on  the  princi 
ple  that  tropical  products  can  be  produced 
cheaper  by  free  African  labor  and  East  India 
labor,  than  by  slave  labor.  She  knew  full  well 
the  value  of  such  products  to  her  commerce,  navi 
gation,  navy,  manufacturers,  revenue,  and  pow 
er.  She  was  not  ignorant  that  the  support  and 
maintenance  of  her  political  preponderance  .de 
pended  on  her  tropical  possessions,  and  had 
no  intention  of  diminishing  their  productiveness, 
nor  any  anticipation  that  such  would  be  the  ef 
fect,  when  the  scheme  of  abolishing  Slavery  in 
her  colonial  possessions  was  adopted.  On  the 
contrary,  she  calculated  to  combine  philanthro 
py  with  profit  and  power,  as  is  not  unusual  with 
tanaticism.  Experience  bus  convinced  her  of 
the  fallacy  of  her  calculations.  She  has  failed  in, 
all  her  objects.  The  labor  of  her  Negroes  has 
proved  far  less  productive,  without  affording  the 
consolation  of  having  improved  their  condition. 

"  The  experiment  has  turned  out  to  be  a  costly 
one.  She  expended  nearly  one  hundred  millions 
of  dollars  in  indemnifying  the  owners  of  the  eman 
cipated  Slaves.  It  is  estimated  that  the  increased 
price  paid  since,  by  the  people  of  Great  Britain, 
for  sugar  and  other  tropical  productions,  in  con 
sequence  of  the  measure,  is  equal"  to  half  that 
sum  ;  and  that  twice  that  amount  has  been  ex 
pended  in  the  suppression  of  the  Slave-trade ; 
making  together  two  hundred  and  fifty  millions 
of  dollars  as  the  cost  of  the  experiment.  Instead 
of  realizing  her  hope,  the  result  has  been  a  sad 
disappointment.  Her  tropical  products  have 
fallen  off  to  a  vast  amount.  Instead  of  supplying 
her  own  wants,  and  those  of  nearly  all  Europe 
with  them,  as  formerly,  she  has  now,  in  some  of 
the  most  important  articles,  scarcely  enough  to 
supply  her  own.  What  is  worse,  her  own  colo 
nies  are  actually  consuming  sugar  produced  by 
Slave-labor,  brought  direct  to  England,  or  refined 
in  bond,  and  exported  and  sold  in  her  colonies  as 
cheap,  or  cheaper,  than  can  be  produced  there ; 
while  the  Slave-trade,  instead  of  diminishing,  has 
been  in  fact  carried  on  to  a  greater  extent  than 
ever.  So  disastrous  has  been  the  result,  that  her 
fixed  capital  invested  in  tropical  possessions,  esti 
mated  at  the  value  of  nearly  five  hundred  mil 
lions  of  dollars,  is  said  to  stand  on  the  brink  of 
ruin. 

"  But  this  is  not  the  worst;  while  this  costly 


THE  ANNEXATION  OF  TEXAS. 


3'J 


scheme  has  had  such  ruinous  effects  on  the  tropi 
cal  productions  of  (-treat  Britain,  it  has  given  a 
powerful  stimulus,  followed  by  a  corresponding 
increase  of  products,  to  those  countries  which  had 
had  the  good  sense  to  shun  her  example.  There 
has  been  vested,  it  has  been  estimated  by  them, 
in  the  production  of  tropical  products,  since  1808, 
in  fixed  capital,  nearly  $4,000,000,000,  wholly  de 
pendent  on  Slave-labor.  In  the  same  period,  the 
value  of  their  products  has  been  estimated  to 
have  risen  from  about  §72.000,000,  annually,  to 
nearly  $220,000,000  ;  while  the  whole  of  the  fixed 
capital  of  Great  Britain,  vested  in  cultivating 
tropical  products,  both  in  the  East  and  West 
Indies,  is  estimated  at  only  about  $830,000,000, 
and  the  value  of  the  products  annually  at  about 
$~>0,000,000.  To  present  a  still  more  striking  view 
of  three  articles  of  tropical  products  (sugar,  coffee, 
and  cotton),  the  British  possessions,  including  the 
East  and  West  Indies,  and  Mauritius,  produced 
in  1842,  of  sugar,  only  3,993,771  pounds ;  while 
Cuba,  Brazil,  and  the  United  States,  excluding 
other  countries  having  tropical  possessions,  pro 
duced  9,600,000  pounds;  of  coffee,  the  British 
possessions  produced  only  27,393,003  pounds, 
while  Cuba  and  Brazil  produced  201,590,125 
pounds;  and  of  cotton,  the  British  possessions, 
including  shipments  to  China,  only  137,443,446 
pounds,  while  the  United  States  alone  produced 
790,479,275  pounds. 

"  The  above  facts  and  estimate  have  all  been 
drawn  from  a  British  periodical  of  high  standing 
and  authority,*  and  are  believed  to  be  entitled  to 
credit. 

"  The  vast  increase  of  the  capital  and  produc 
tion  on  the  part  of  those  nations,  who  have  con 
tinued  their  former  policy  toward  the  negro  race, 
compared  with  that  of  Great  Britain,  indicates  a 
corresponding  relative  increase  of  the  means  of 
commerce,  navigation,  manufactures,  wealth, 
and  power.  It  is  no  longer  a  question  of  doubt, 
that  the  great  source  of  wealth,  prosperity,  and 
power  of  more  civilized  nations  of  the  tem 
perate  zone  (especially  Europe,  where  the  arts 
have  made  the  greatest  advance),  depends,  in  a 
great  degree,  on  the  exchange  of  their  products 
with  those  of  the  tropical  regions.  So  great  has 
been  the  advance  made  in  the  arts,  both  chemical 
and  mechanical,  within  the  few  last  generations, 
that  all  the  old  civilized  nations  can,  with  but  a 
small  part  of  their  labor  and  capital,  supply  then- 
respective  wants ;  which  tends  to  limit,  within 
narrow  bounds,  the  amount  of  the  commerce  be 
tween  them,  and  forces  them  all  to  seek  for  mar 
kets  in  the  tropical  regions,  and  the  more  newly- 
settled  portions  of  the  globe.  Those  who  can 
best  succeed  in  commanding  those  markets,  have 
the  least  prospect  of  outstripping  the  others  in  the 
career  of  commerce,  navigation,  manufactures, 
wealth,  and  power. 

This  is  seen  and  felt  by  British  statesmen,  and 
has  opened  their  eyes  to  the  errors  which  they 
have  committed.  The  question  now  with  them 
is,  how  shall  it  be  counteracted  ?  What  has  been 
done  cannot  be  undone.  The  question  is,  by 
what  means  can  Great  Britain  regain  and  keep  a 
superiority  in  tropical  cultivation,  commerce,  and 
influence  ?  Or.  shall  that  be  abandoned,  and 
other  nations  be  suffered  to  acquire  the  supremacy, 
even  to  the  extent  of  supplying  British  markets, 
to  the  destruction  of  the  capital  already  vested  in 
their  production  ?  These  are  the  questions  which 
now  profoundly  occupy  the  attention  of  her  states 
men,  and  have  the  greatest  influence  over  her 
councils. 

"  In  order  to  regain  her  superiority,  she  not  only 
geeks  to  revive  and  increase  her  own  capacity  to 
produce  tropical  productions,  but  to  diminish  and 
destroy  the  capacity  of  those  who  have  so  far  out- 


Blackwood's  Magazine  for  June,  1841. 


stripped  her  in  consequence  of  her  error.  In  pur 
uit  of  the  former,  she  has  cast  her  eyes  to  her 
East  IndStT,  possessions — to  Central  and  Eastern 
Africa — with  the  view  of  establishing  colonies 
there,  and  even  to  restore,  substantially,  the  Slave- 
trade  itself,  under  the  specious  name  of  transport 
ing  her  free  laborers  from  Africa  to  her  West 
India  possessions,  in  order,  if  possible,  to  compete 
successfully  with  those  who  have  refused  to  follow 
her  suicidal  policy.  But  these  all  afford  but  un 
certain  and  distant  hopes  of  recovering  her  lost 
superiority.  Her  main  reliance  is  on  the  other 
alternative — to  cripple  or  destroy  the  productions 
of  her  successful  rivals.  There  is  but  one  way  by 
which  it  can  be  done,  and  that  is  by  abolishing 
African  Slavery  throughout  this  continent;  and 
that  she  openly  avows  to  be  the  constant  object 
of  her  policy  and  exertions.  It  matters  not  how, 
or  from  what  motive,  it  may  be  done— whether  it 
be  by  diplomacy,  influence,  or  force  ;  by  secret  or 
open  means  ;  and  whether  the  motive  be  humane 
or  selfish,  without  regard  to  manner,  means,  or 
motive.  The  thing  itself,  should  it  be  accom 
plished,  would  put  down  all  rivalry,  and  give  her 
the  undisputed  supremacy  in  supplying  her  own 
wants,  and  those  of  the  rest  of  the  world ;  and 
thereby  more  than  fully  retrieve  what  she  lost  by 
her  errors.  It  would  give  her  the  monopoly  of 
tropical  productions,  which  I  shall  next  proceed 
to  show. 

"  What  would  be  the  consequ^iee  if  this  object 
of  her  unceasing  solicitude  and  exertions  should 
be  effected  by  the  abolition  of  Negro  Slavery 
throughout  this  continent,  some  idea  may  be 
formed  from  the  immense  diminution  of  produc 
tions,  as  has  been  shown,  which  has  followed 
abolition  in  her  West  India  possessions.  But,  as 
great  as  that  has  been,  it  is  nothing  compared 
with  what  would  be  the  effect,  if  she  should  suc 
ceed  in  abolishing  Slavery  in  the  United  States, 
Cuba,  Brazil,  and  throughout  this  continent.  The 
experiment  in  her  own  colonies  was  made  under 
the  most  favorable  circumstances.  It  was  brought 
about  gradually  and  peaceably  by  the  steady  and 
firm  operation  of  the  parent  country,  armed  with 
complete  power  to  prevent  or  crush  at  once  all 
insurrectionary  movements  on  the  part  of  the 
negroes,  and  able  and  disposed  to  maintain  to  the 
full,  the  political  and  social  ascendancy  of  the 
former  Masters  over  their  former  Slaves.  It  is  not 
at  all  wonderful  that  the  change  of  the  relations 
of  Master  and  Slave  took  place,  under  such  cir 
cumstances,  without  violence  and  bloodshed,  and 
that  order  and  peace  should  have  been  since  pre 
served.  Very  different  would  be  the  result  of 
abolition,  should  it  be  effected  by  her  influence 
and  exertions  in  the  possessions  of  other  countries 
on  this  continent — and  especially  in  the  United 
States,  Cuba,  and  Brazil,  the  great  cultivators  of 
the  principal  tropical  products  of  America.  To 
form  a  correct  conception  of  what  would  be  the 
result  with  them,  we  must  look,  not  to  Jamaica, 
but  to  St.  Domingo,  for  example.  The  change 
would  be  followed  by  unforgiving  hate  between 
the  two  races,  and  end  in  a  bloody  and  deadly 
struggle  between  them  for  the  superiority.  One 
or  the  other  would  have  to  be  subjugated,  extir 
pated,  or  expelled;  and  desolation  would  over 
spread  their  territories,  as  in  St.  Domingo,  from 
which  it  would  take  centuries  to  recover.  The 
end  would  be,  that  the  superiority  in  cultivating 
the  great  tropical  staples  would  be  transferred 
from  them  to  the  British  tropical  possessions. 

"  They  are  of  vast  extent,  and  those  beyond  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope,  possessed  of  an  unlimited 
amount  of  labor,  standing  ready,  by  the  aid  of 
British  capital,  to  supply  the  deficit  which 
would  be  occasioned  by  destroying  the  tropical 
productions  of  the  United  States,  Cuba,  Brazil, 
and  other  countries  cultivated  by  Slave-labor 
on  this  continent,  as  soon  as  the  increased  prices, 
in  consequence,  would  yield  a  profit.  It  is  the 


40 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  SLAVERY  RESTRICTION. 


successful  competition  of  that  labor  which  keeps 
the  prices  of  the  great  tropical  staples  so  low  as 
to  prevent  their  cultivation  with  profit  in  the 
possessions  of  Great  Britain,  by  what  she  is 
pleased  to  call  free-labor. 

"  If  she  can  destroy  its  competition,  she  would 
have  a  monopoly  of  "these  productions.  She  has 
all  the  means  of  furnishing  an  unlimited  supply 
— vast  and  fertile  possessions  in  both  Indies, 
boundless  command  of  capital  and  labor,  and 
ample  power  to  suppress  disturbances  and  pre 
serve  order  throughout  her  wide  domain. 

'•It  is  unquestionable  that  she  regards  the 
abolition  of  Slavery  in  Texas  as  a  most  import 
ant  step  toward  this  great  object  of  policy,  so 
much  the  aim  of  her  solicitude  and  exertions  ; 
and  the  defeat  of  the  Annexation  of  Texas  to  our 
Union  as  indispensable  to  the  abolition  of  Sla 
very  there.  She  is  too  sagacious  not  to  see  what 
a  fatal  blow  it  would  give  to  Slavery  in  the 
United  States,  and  how  certainly  its  abolition 
with  us  will  abolish  it  over  the  whole  continent, 
and  thereby  give  her  a  monopoly  in  the  produc 
tions  of  the  great  tropical  staples,  and  the  com 
mand  of  the  commerce,  navigation,  and  manu 
factures  of  the  world,  with  an  established  naval 
ascendancy  and  political  preponderance.  To 
this  continent,  the  blow  would  be  calamitous  be 
yond  description.  It  would  destroy,  in  a  great 
measure,  the  cultivation  and  productions  of  the 
great  tropical  Staples,  amounting  annually  in 
value  to  nearly  $300,000,000,  the  fund  which 
stimulates  and  upholds  almost  every  other  branch 
of  its  industry,  commerce,  navigation,  and  manu 
factures.  The  whole,  by  their  joint  influence,  are 
rapidly  spreading  population,  wealth,  improve 
ment  and  civilization  over  the  whole  continent, 
and  vivifying,  by  their  overflow,  the  industry  of 
Europe,  thereby  increasing  its  population,  wealth, 
and  advancement  in  the  arts,  in  power,  and  in 
civilization. 

"  Such  must  be  the  result,  should  Great  Britain 
succeed  in  accomplishing  the  constant  object  of 
her  desire  and  exertions— the  abolition  of  Negro 
Slavery  over  this  continent — and  towards  the  ef 
fecting  of  which  she  regards  the  defeat  of  the 
Annexation  of  Texas  to  our  Union  so  important. 

"Can  it  be  possible  that  governments  so  en 
lightened  and  sagacious  as  those  of  France  and 
the  other  great  continental  powers,  can  be  so 
blinded  by  the  plea  of  philanthropy  as  not  to  see 
what  must  inevitably  follow,  be  her  motive  what 
it  may,  should  she  succeed  in  her  object  ?  It  is 
little  short  of  mockery  to  talk  of  philanthropy, 
with  the  example  before  us  of  the  effects  of  abol 
ishing  Negro  Slavery  in  her  own  colonies,  in  St. 
Domingo,  and  in  the  Northern  States  of  our 
Union,  where  statistical  facts,  not  to  be  shaken, 
prove  that  the  free  Negro,  after  the  experience  of 
sixty  years,  is  in  a  far  worse  condition  than  in  the 
other'Statts,  where  he  has  been  left  in  his  former 
condition.  No  :  the  effect  of  what  is  called  abo 
lition,  where  the  number  is  few,  is  not  to  raise 
the  inferior  race  to  the  condition  of  freemen,  but 
to  deprive  the  Negro  of  the  guardian  care  of  his 
owner,  subject  to  all  the  depression  and  oppres 
sion  belonging  to  his  inferior  condition.  But,  on 
the  other  hand,  where  tl3C  number  is  great,  and 
bears  a  large  proportion  to  the  whole  population, 
it  would  be  still  worse.  It  would  be  to  substitute 
for  the  existing  relation  a  deadly  strife  between 
the  two  races,  to  end  in  the  subjection,  expulsion, 
or  extirpation  of  one  or  the  other;  and  such 
would  be  the  case  over  the  greater  part  of  this 
continent  where  Negro  Slavery  exists.  It  would 
not  end  there  ;  but  would,  in  all  probability,  ex 
tend,  by  its  example,  the  war  of  races  over  all 
South  America,  including  Mexico,  and  extending 
to  the  Indian  as  well  as  the  African  race,  and 
make  the  whole  one  scene  of  blood  and  devasta 
tion. 


"Dismissing,  then,  the  stale  and  unfounded  plea 
of  philanthropy,  can  it  be  that  France  and  the 
other  great  continental  powers — seeing  what  must 
be  the  result  of  the  policy,  for  the  accomplish 
ment  of  which  England  is  constantly  exerting 
herself,  and  that  the  defeat  of  the  Annexation  of 
Texan  is  so  important  towards  its  consummation 
— are  prepared  to  back  or  countenance  her  in  her 
efforts  to  produce  either  ?  What  possible  motives 
can  they  have  to  favor  her  cherished  policy  ?  la 
it  not.  better  for  them  that  they  should  be  sup 
plied  with  tropical  products  in  exchange  for 
their  labor  from  the  United  States,  Brazil,  Cuba, 
and  this  continent  generally,  than  to  be  depend 
ent  on  one  great  monopolizing  power  for  their 
supply  ?  Is  it  not  better  that  they  should  receive 
them  at  the  low  prices  which  competition,  cheap 
er  means  of  production,  and  nearness  of  market, 
would  furnish  them  by  the  former,  than  to  give 
the  high  prices  which  monopoly,  dear  labor,  and 
great  distance  from  market,  would  impose  1  Is 
it  not  better  that  their  labor  should  be  exchanged 
with  a  new  continent,  rapidly  increasing  in  popu 
lation  and  capacity  for  consuming,  and  which 
would  furnish,  in  the  course  of  a  few  genera 
tions,  a  market  nearer  to  them,  and  almost  of 
unlimited  extent,  for  the  products  of  their  indus 
try  and  arts,  than  with  old  and  distant  regions, 
whose  population  has  long  since  reached  its 
growth  ? 

"  The  above  contains  those  enlarged  views  of 
policy  which,  it  seems  to  me,  an  enlightened  Eu 
ropean  statesman  ought  to  take,  in  making  up 
his  opinion  on  the  subject  of  the  Annexation  of 
Texas,  and  the  grounds,  as  it  may  be  inferred, 
on  which  England  vainly  opposes  it.  They  cer 
tainly  involve  considerations  of  the  deepest  im 
portance,  and  demanding  the  greatest  attention. 
Viewed  in  connection  with  them,  the  question  of 
Annexation  becomes  one  of  the  first  magnitude, 
not  only  to  Texas  and  the  United  States,  but  to 
this  continent  and  Europe.  They  are  presented, 
that  you  may  use  them  on  all  suitable  occasions 
where  you  think  they  may  be  with  effect,  in  your 
correspondence,  where  it  can  be  done  with  pro 
priety  or  otherwise.  The  President  relies  with 
confidence  on  your  sagacity,  prudence,  and  zeal. 
Your  mission  is  one  of  the  first  magnitude  at  all 
times,  but  especially  now  ;  and  he  feels  assured 
that  nothing  will  be  left  undone  on  your  part  to 
do  justice  to  the  country  and  the  Government  in 
reference  to  this  measure. 

"  I  have  said  nothing  as  to  our  right  of  treaty 
with  Texas,  without  consulting  Mexico.  You  so 
fully  understand  the  grounds  on  which  we  rest 
our  right,  and  are  so  familiar  with  all  the  facts 
necessary  to  maintain  them,  that  it  was  thought 
unnecessary  to  add  anything  in  reference  to  it. 
•'lam,  Sir,  very  respectfully, 

"  Your  obedient  Servant, 

"J.  C.   CALHOUN." 

"  WILLIAM  R.  KING,  Esq.,  &c.,  &c." 

The  election  of  James  K.  Polk  as  Presi 
dent,  and  George  M.  Dallas  as  Vice-Presi- 
dent,  (Nov.  1844)  having  virtually  settled, 
affirmatively,  the  question  of  annexing  Tex 
as,  the  XXVIllth  Congress  commenced 
its  second  session  at  Washington  on  the  2nd 
of  December,  1844 — Mr.  John  Tyler  being 
still  acting  President  up  to  the  end  of  the  Con 
gress,  March  4th  following. 

Dec.  19.  Mr.  John  B.  Weller,  (then  mem 
ber  from  Ohio,  now  Senator  from  California) 
by  leave,  introduced  a  joint  resolution,  No. 
51,  providing  for  the  annexation  of  Texas  to 
the  United  States,  which  he  moved  to  the 
Committee  of  the  Whole. 


THE  ANNEXATION   OF   TEXAS. 


41 


Mr.  E.  S.  Hamlin  of  Ohio  moved  a  re 
ference  of  said  resolve  to  a  committee  of 
one  from  each  State,  with  instructions  to  re 
port  to  the  House, 

"  1st.  Whether  Congress  has  any  constitutional 
power  to  annex  a  foreign,  independent  nation  to 
this  Government;  and  if  so,  by  what  article  and 
section  of  the  Constitution  it  is  conferred ;  wheth 
er  it  is  among  the  powers  expressly  granted,  or 
among  those  which  are  implied  ;  whether  it  is  ne 
cessary  to  carry  into  effect  any  expressly-granted 
power  ;  and  if  so,  which  one. 

"  2/1.  Whether  annexation  of  Texas  would  not 
extend  and  perpetuate  Slavery  in  the  Slave  States, 
and  also,  the  internal  slave-trade  ;  and  whether 
the  United  States  Government  has  any  constitu 
tional  power  over  Slavery  in  the  States,  either  to 
perpetuate  it  there,  or  to  do  it  away. 

"  '3d.  Whether  the  United  States,  having  ac 
knowledged  the  independence  of  Texas,  Mexico 
is  thereby  deprived  of  her  right  to  reconquer  that 
province. 

"4£A.  That  they  report  whether  Texas  is  owing 
any  debts  or  not ;  and,  if  she  is,  what  is  the 
amount,  and  to  whom  payable;  and  whether,  if 
she  should  be  annexed  to  the  United  States,  the 
United  States  Government  would  be  bound  to 
pay  them  all. 

'•  5th.  That  they  report  what  treaties  are  in  ex 
istence  between  Texas  and  foreign  governments  ; 
and,  if  she  should  be  annexed  to  the  United  States, 
wheiher  the  United  States  Government  would  be 
bound,  by  the  law  of  nations,  to  fulfill  those 
treaties." 

The  question  on  commitment  was  insisted 
upon, .and  tirst  taken — Yeas,  109  (Demo 
crats)  ;  Nays,  61  (Whigs) ;  whereupon  it  was 
held  that  Mr.  Hamlin's  amendment  was  de 
feated,  and  the  original  proposition  alone 
committed. 

Jan.  mh,  1845.  Mr.  John  P.  Hale,  N. 
H.,  (then  a  Democratic  Representative,  now 
a  Republican  Senator)  proposed  the  follow 
ing  as  an  amendment  to  any  act  or  resolve 
contemplating  the  annexation  of  Texas  to 
this  Union  : 

"  Provided,  That  immediately  after  the  ques 
tion  of  boundary  between  the  United  States  of 
America  and  Mexico  shall  have  been  definitively 
settled  by  the  two  governments,  and  before  any 
State  formed  out  of  the  territory  of  Texas  shall  be 
admitted  into  the  Union,  the  said  territory  of  Texas 
shall  be  divided  as  follows,  to  wit :  beginning  at 
a  point  on  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  midway  between 
the  Northern  and  Southern  boundaries  thereof  on 
the  coast  ;  and  thence  by  a  line  running  in  a 
northwesterly  direction  to  the  extreme  boundary 
thereof,  so  as  to  divide  the  same  as  nearly  as  pos 
sible  into  two  equal  parts,  and  in  that  portion  of 
said  territory  lying  south  and  west  of  the  line  to  be 
run  as  aforesaid,  there  shall  be  neither  Slavery 
nor  involuntary  servitude,  otherwise  than  in  the 

Eunishment  of  crimes,  whereof  the  party  shall 
ave  been  duly  convicted. 

"  And  provided  further,  That  this  provision 
shall  be  considered  as  a  compact  between  the  peo 
ple  of  the  United  States  and  the  people  of  the 
said  territory,  and  forever  remain  unalterable, 
unless  by  the  consent  of  three-fourths  of  the  States 
of  the  Union." 

Mr.  Hale  asked  a  suspension  of  the  rules, 
to  enable  him  to  offer  it  now,  and  have  it 
printed  and  committed.  Refused — Yeas,  92, 
(not  two-thirds ;)  Nays,  81. 


Yeas — All  the  Whigs  and  most  of  the 
Democrats  from  the  Free  States,  with  Messrs. 
Duncan  L.  Clinch  and  Alex.  H.  Stephens 
of  C4eorgia,  and  Geo.  W.  Summers  of  Va. 

Nays  —  All  the  members  from  Slave 
States,  except  the  above,  with  the  following 
from  Free  States  : 

MAINE.— Sheppard  Gary— 1. 

NEW-HAMPSHIKE. — Edmund  Burke,  Moses 
Norris,  jr — 2. 

NEW -YORK. —James  G.  Clinton,  Selah  B. 
Strong— 2. 

PENNSYLVANIA.— James  Black,  Richard  Brod- 
head,  Henry  D.  Foster,  Joseph  11.  Ingersoll. 
Michael  H.  Jenks— 5. 

OHIO. — Joseph  J.  McDowell — 1. 

INDIANA.— William  J.  Brown,  John  W.  Davis. 
John  Pettit— 3. 

ILLINOIS. — Orlando  B.  Fickliu,  Joseph  P. 
Hoge,  Robert  Smith— 3. 

Total  Democrats  from  Free  States,  17. 

Dec.  12th.— Mr.  C.  J.  Ingersoll  of  Pa., 
from  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Affairs,  re 
ported  a  Joint  Resolution  for  annexing 
Texas  to  the  Union,  which  was  committed 
and  discussed  in  Committee  of  the  Whole 
from  time  to  time,  through  the  next 
month. 

Jan.  *lth. — Mr.  J.  P.  Hale  presented  re 
solves  of  the  Legislature  of  New  Hampshire, 
thoroughly  in  favor  of  Annexation,  and 
silent  on  the  subject  of  Slavery,  except  as 
follows  : 

"Resolved,  That  we  agree  with  Mr.  Clay,  that 
the  re-annexation  of  Texas  will  add  more  Free 
than  Slave  States  to  the  Union ;  and  that  it  would 
be  unwise  to  refuse  a  permanent  acquisition, 
which  will  exist  as  long  as  the  globe  remains, 
on  account  of  a  temporary  institution." 

Jan.  1.3th. — Mr.  Cave  Johnson  of  Tenn. 
moved  that  all  further  debate  on  this  sub 
ject  be  closed  at  2  p.  M.  on  Thursday  next. 
Carried— Yeas,  126  ;  Nays,  57  ;  (nearly  all 
the  Nays  from  Slave  States). 

Jan.  25th. — The  debate,  after  an  exten 
sion  of  time,  was  at  length  brought  to  a 
close,  and  the  Joint  Resolution  taken  out  of 
Committee,  and  reported  to  the  House  in  the 
following  form  ;  (that  portion  relating  to 
Slavery,  having  been  added  in  Committee, 
on  motion  of  Mr.  Milton  Brown  (Whig)  of 
Tennessee : 

"  Resolved,  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Rep 
resentatives  in  Congress  assembled,  That  Con 
gress  doth  consent  that  the  Territory  properly 
included  within,  and  rightfully  belonging  to,  the 
Republic  of  Texas,  may  be  erected  into  a  new 
State,  to  be  called  the  State  of  Texas,  with  a 
republican  form  ot  government,  to  be  adopted 
by  the  people  of  said  republic,  by  deputies  in 
convention  assembled,  with  the  consent  of  the 
existing  government,  in  order  that  the  same  may 
be  admitted  as  one  of  the  States  of  this  Union. 

"  2.  And  be  it  further  resolved,  That  the  fore 
going  consent  of  Congress  is  given  upon  the  fol 
lowing  conditions,  and  with  the  following  guaran 
tees,  to  wit : 

"  First.  Said  State  to  be  formed,  subject  to  tho 
adjustment  by  this  Government  of  all  questions 
of  boundary  that  may  arise  with  other  govern* 


42 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  SLAVERY  RESTRICTION. 


ments;  and  the  Constitution  thereof,  with  the 
proper  evidence  of  its  adoption  by  the  people  of 
said  Republic  of  Texas,  shall  be  transmitted  to 
the  President  of  the  United  States,  to  be  laid 
before  Congress  for  its  final  action,  on  or  before 
the  1  st  day  of  January,  1 846. 

"  Second.  Said  State,  when  admitted  into  the 
Union,  after  ceding  to  the  United  States  all  pub 
lic  edifices,  fortifications,  barracks,  ports,  and 
harbors,  navy  and  navy-yards,  docks,  magazines, 
arms,  armaments,  and  all  other  property  and 
means  pertaining  to  the  public  defense,  belong 
ing  to  the  said  Republic  of  Texas,  shall  retain 
all  the  public  funds,  debts,  taxes,  and  dues  of 
every  kind  which  may  belong  to,  or  be  due 
or  owing  said  republic ;  and  shall  also  retain 
all  the  vacant  and  unappropriated  lands  lying 
within  its  limits,  to  be  applied  to  the  payment 
of  the  debts  and  liabilities  of  said  Republic  of 
Texas ;  and  the  residue  of  said  lands,  after  dis 
charging  said  debts  and  liabilities,  to  be  disposed 
of  as  said  State  may  direct;  but  in  no  event 
are  said  debts  and  liabilities  to  become  a  charge 
upon  the  United  States. 

"Third.  New  States  of  convenient  size,  not 
exceeding  four  in  number,  in  addition  to  said 
State  of  Texas,  and  having  sufficient  population, 
may  hereafter,  by  the  consent  of  said  State,  be 
formed  out  of  the  Territory  thereof,  which  shall 
be  entitled  to  admission  under  the  provisions  of 
the  Federal  Constitution.  And  such  States  as 
may  be  formed  out  of  that  portion  of  said  Terri 
tory,  lying  south  of  thirty-six  degrees  thirty 
minutes  north  latitude,  commonly  known  as  the 
Missouri  Compromise  line,  shall  be  admitted  into 
the  Union,  with  or  without  Slavery,  as  the  people 
of  each  State  asking  admission  may  desire ;  and 
in  such  State  or  States  as  shall  be  formed  out  of 
said  Territory,  north  of  said  Missouri  Compro 
mise  line,  Slavery  or  involuntary  servitude  (ex 
cept  for  crime)  shall  be  prohibited." 

Mr.  Cave  Johnson  of  Tenn.  moved  the 
previous  question,  which  the  House  seconded 
—Yeas  113;  Nays  106— and  then  the 
amendment  aforesaid  was  agreed  to — Yeas 
118  ;  Nays  101. 

Yeas,  114  Democrats,  and  Messrs.  Milton 
Brown  of  Tenn.,  James  Dellet  of  Ala.,  and 
Duncan  L.  Clinch  and  Alex.  H.  Stephens 
of  Ga.  (4),  Southern  Whigs. 

Nays,  all  the  Whigs  present  from  Free 
States,  with  all  from  Slave  States,  but  the 
four  just  named  ;  with  the  following  Demo 
crats  from  Free  States  : 

MAINE — Robert  P.  Dunlap,  Hannibal  Hamlin 
_2. 

VERMONT Paul  Dillingham,  jr.— 1. 

NEW-HAMPSHIRE.— John  P.  Hale — 1. 

CONNECTICUT. — George  S.  Catlin — 1. 

NEW-YORK. — Joseph  H.  Anderson,  Charles  S. 
Benton,  Jeremiah  E.  Carey,  Amasa  Dana,  Rich 
ard  D.  Davis,  Byram  Green,  Preston  King, 
Smith  M.  Purdy,  George  Rathbun,  Orville  Rob 
inson,  David  L.  Seymour,  Lemuel  Stetson — 12. 

OHIO. — Jacob  Brinckerhoff,  William  C.  Mc- 
Causlen.  Joseph  Morris,  Henry  St.  John — 4. 

MICHIGAN. — James  B.  Hunt,  Robert  McClel 
land— 2. 

Total  Democrats  from  Free  States,  23. 
"    Whigs  from  Free  and  Slave 

States,  78. 

^  The  House  then  ordered  the  whole  propo 
sition  to  a  third  reading  forthwith — Yeas 
120  ;  Nays  97— and  passed  it  by  Yeas  120  ; 
Nays  98. 


Yeas,  all  the  Democrats  from  Slave  States, 
and  all  the  Democrats  from  Free  States,  ex 
cept  as  below ;  with  Messrs.  Duncan  L. 
Clinch,  Milton  Brown,  James  Dellet,  Wil- 
loughby  Newton,  of  Va.  (who  therefrom 
turned  Democrat),  and  Alex.  H.  Stephens 
of  Ga.  (now  Democrat),  from  Slave  States. 

Nays,  all  the  Whigs  from  Free  States ; 
all  those  from  Slave  States  except  as  above  ; 
with  the  following  Democrats  from  Free 
States,  viz. : 

MAINE. — Hannibal  Hamlin — 1. 

NEW-HAMPSHIRE. — John  P.  Hale,  John  R. 
Reding— 2. 

VERMONT. — Paul  Dillingham,  jr. — 1. 

CONNECTICUT. — George  S.  Catlin— 1. 

NEW-YORK._  .Joseph  H.  Anderson,  Charles  S. 
Benton,  Levi  D.  Carpenter.  Jeremiah  E.  Carey, 
Amasa  Dana,  Richard  D.  Davis,  Byram  Green, 
Preston  King,  Smith  M.  Purdy,  George  Rathbun, 
Lemuel  Stetson,  Horace  Wheaton,  David  L. 
Seymour — 14. 

OHIO. — Henry  St.  John — 1. 

MICHIGAN James  B.  Hunt,  Eobert  McClel 
land— 2. 

Total  Democrats  from  Free  States  23. 

So  the  resolve  passed  the  House,  and  was 
sent  to  the  Senate  for  concurrence. 

In  Senate,  several  attempts  to  originate 
action  in  favor  of  Annexation  were  made 
at  this  session,  but  nothing  came  of  them. 

Feb.  24:th.  The  joint  resolution  aforesaid 
from  the  House  was  taken  up  for  considera 
tion  by  30  Yeas  to  11  Nays  (all  Northern 
Whigs).  On  the  27th,  Mr.  Walker  of  VVis. 
moved  to  add  an  alternative  proposition, 
contemplating  negotiation  as  the  means  of 
effecting  the  meditated  end. 

Mr.  Foster  (Whig)  of  Tenn.  proposed  the 
following : 

"  And  provided  further,  That  in  fixing  the 
terms  and  conditions  of  such  admission,  it  shall 
be  expressly  stipulated  and  declared,  that  the 
State  of  Texas,  and  such  other  States  as  jnay  be 
formed  out  of  that  portion  of  the  present  Territory 
of  Texas  lying  south  of  thirty-six  deg.  thirty  min. 
north  latitude,  commonly  known  as  the  Missouri 
Compromise  line,  sljall  be  admitted  into  the 
Union  with  or  without  Slavery,  as  the  people  of 
each  State,  so  hereafter  asking  admission,  may 
desire  :  And  provided  furthermore^  That  it  shall 
be  also  stipulated  and  declared,  that  the  public 
debt  of  Texas  shall  in  no  event  become  a  charge 
upon  the  government  of  the  United  States." 

The  question  was  first  taken  on  the  first 
(Slavery)  proviso  of  the  foregoing,  which 
was  defeated,  by  Yeas  and  Nays,  as  fol 
lows : 

YEAS— For  the  Slavery  Proviso: 


Mesars.  Archer,  Va. 
Barrow,  La. 
Bayard,  Del. 
Berrien,  Ga. 
Clayton,  Del. 
Crittenden,  Ky. 
Foster,  Tenn. 
Hanncgan,  Ind. 
Huger,  S.  C. 


Jarnagin,  Tenn. 
Johnson,  La. 
Mangum,  N.  C. 
Merrick,  Md. 
Morehead,  Ky. 
Pearce,  Md. 
Phelps,  Vt. 
Rives,  Va. 
Sevier,  Ark.— 18. 


All  Whigs  but  three  (in  Italics). 


THE  ANNEXATION  OF  TEXAS. 


NA  YS — Against  the  Slavery  Proviso  : 
Messrs.  Allen,  Ohio.  Francis,  R.  I. 

Ashley,  Ark. 
Atchison.  Mo. 


Haywood,  N.  C. 
Henderson,  Miss. 


Atherton,  N.  H.     Huntington,  Conn. 


Bagby,  Ala, 
Bates,  Mnss. 
Ben  ton,  Mo. 
Breese,  Ind. 
Buchanan,  Pa. 
Choate,  Mass. 
Colquitt,  Ga. 
Dayton,  N.  J. 
Dickinson,  N.  Y. 
Dix,  N.  Y. 
Evans,  Me. 
Fairneld,  Me. 


Lewis,  Ala. 
McUuffie,  S.  C. 
Miller,  N.  Y. 
Niles,  Conn. 
Porter,  La. 
Semple,  111. 
Sturgeon,  Pa. 
Tappan,  Ohio. 
Upham,  Vt. 
Walker,  Wis. 
White,  Ind 
Woodbridge,  Mich. 


Woodbury,  N.  H.— 34. 

The  other  branch  of  the  amendment  was 
voted  down.  Yeas,  20  (Whigs)  ;  Nays,  31 
(25  Democrats  and  6  Whigs). 

Various  amendments  were  proposed  and 
voted  down.  Among  them,  Mr.  Foster,  of 
Tenn.,  moved  an  express  stipulation  that 
Slavery  should  be  tolerated  in  all  States 
formed  out  of  the  Territory  of  Texas,  south 
of  the  Missouri  line  of  36°  30'.  Rejected- 
Yeas,  16  (Southern  Whigs,  and  Sevier  of 
Arkansas)  ;  Nays,  33. 

Mr.  Miller,  of  N.  J.,  moved  to  strike  out 
all  after  the  enacting  clause,  and  insert : 

"  That  the  President  of  the  United  States  be, 
and  he  hereby  is,  authorized  and  advised  to  open 
negotiations  with  Mexico  and  Texas,  for  the  ad 
justment  of  boundaries,  and  the  annexation  of 
the  latter  to  the  United  States,  on  the  following 
basis,  to  wit : 

"I.  The  boundary  of  the  annexed  territory  to 
be  in  the  desert  prairie  west  of  the  Nueces,  and 
along  the  highlands  and  mountain  heights  which 
divide  the  waters  of  the  Mississippi  from  the 
waters  of  the  Rio  del  Norte,  and  to  latitude  forty- 
two  degrees  north. 

"II.  The  people  of  Texas,  by  a  legislative  act, 
or  by  any  authentic  act  which  shows  the  will  of 
the  majority,  to  express  their  assent  to  said  an 
nexation. 

"  III.  A  State  to  be  called  '  the  State  of  Texas,' 
with  boundaries  fixed  by  herself,  and  an  extent 
not  exceeding  the  largest  State  of  the  Union,  be 
admitted  into  the  Union,  by  virtue  of  this  act,  on 
an  equal  footing  with  the  original  States. 

"  IV.  The  remainder  of  the  annexed  territory, 
to  be  held  and  disposed  of  by  the  United  States 
as  one  of  their  Territories,  to  be  called  '  the 
Southwest  Territory.' 

''  V.  The  existence  of  Slavery  to  be  forever 
prohibited  in  the  northern  and  northwestern  part 
of  said  Territory,  west  of  the  100th  degree  of  lati 
tude  west  from  Greenwich,  so  as  to  divide,  as 
equally  as  may  be,  the  whole  of  the  annexed 
country  between  slaveholding  and  non-slave- 
holding  States. 

"  VI.  The  assent  of  Mexico  to  be  obtained  by 
treaty  to  such  annexation  and  boundary,  or  to 
be  dispensed  with  when  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States  may  deem  such  assent  to  be  unne 
cessary. 

"VII.  Other  details  of  the  annexation  to  be 
adjusted  by  treaty,  so  far  as  the  same  may  come 
within  the  scope  of  the  treaty-making  power." 

Rejected  by  the  following  vote  : 
YEAS— For  Mr.  Miller's  Substitute: 


Archer  of  Va. 
Berrien  of  Ga. 


Evans  of  Me. 
Francis  of  R.  I. 


Choate  of  Mass.  Miller  of  N.  J. 

Crittenden  of  Ky.         Phelps  of  Vt. 
Dayton  of  N.  J.  Upham  of  Vt. 

Woodbridge  of  Mich.— 11  (all  Whigs). 


NAYS—  Against  Mr. 
Messrs.  Allen,  Ohio. 

Ashley,  Ark. 

Atchison,  Mo. 

Atherton,  N.  II. 

Bagby,  Ala. 

Barrow,  La. 

Benton,  Mo. 

Breese,  Ind. 

Buchanan,  Pa. 

Clayton,  Del. 

Colquitt,  Ga. 

Dickinson,  N.Y. 

Dix,  N.  Y. 

Fairfield,  Me. 

Foster,  Tenn. 

Hannegan,  Ind. 
Woodbury, 


Miller's  Substitute  i 

Haywood,  N.  C. 

Henderson,  Miss. 

Huger,  S.  C. 

Jarnagin,  Tenn. 

Johnson.  La. 

Lewis,  Ala. 

McDuffie,  S.  C. 

Merrick,  Md. 

Niles,  Conn. 

Pearce,  Md. 

Rives,  Va. 

Semple,  111. 

Sevier,  Ark. 

Sturgeon.  Pa. 

Tappan,  Ohio. 

Walker,  Wis. 
N.  H.— 33. 


The  Walker  amendment  aforesaid  was  car 
ried,  by  Yeas  27,  to  Nays  25,  as  follows  : 

YEAS— For  Walker's  Amendment: 


Messrs.  Allen, 
Ashley, 
Atchison, 
Atherton, 
Bagby, 
Benton, 
Breese, 
Buchanan, 
Colquitt, 
Dickinson, 
Dix, 

Fairfield, 
Hannegan. 

Woodbury- 


Haywood, 
Henderson, 
Huger, 
Johnson, 
Lewis, 
McDuffie, 
Merrick, 
Niles, 
Semple, 
Sevier, 
Sturgeon, 
Tappan, 
Walker, 
-27. 


NAYS — Against  Walker's  Amendment 


Messrs.  Archer, 
Barrow, 
Bates, 
Bayard, 
Berrien, 
Choate, 
Clayton, 
Crittenden, 
Dayton, 
Evans, 
Foster, 
Francis, 


Huntington, 

Jarnagin, 

Mangum, 

Miller, 

Morehead, 

Pearce, 

Phelps, 

Porter, 

Rives, 

Simmons, 

Upham, 

White, 


Woodbridge— 25. 

The  resolution  as  thus  amended  was  adopt 
ed  (Feb.  27,)  by  Yeas  and  Nays  as  follows  : 

YEAS — For  the  Proposition  as  amended  : 

Messrs.  Allen,  Haywood, 

Ashley,  Henderson, 

Atchison,  Huger, 

Atherton,  Johnson, 

Bagby,  Lewis, 

Benton,  McDuffie, 

Breese,  Merrick. 

Buchanan,  Niles, 

Colquitt,  Semple, 

Dickinson,  Sevier, 

Dix,  Sturgeon, 

Fairfield,  Tappan, 

Hannegan.  Walker, 
Woodbury— 26. 

[Yeas — All  Democrats  but  three  in  italic*, 
of  whom  Messrs.  Henderson  and  Merrick 
have  since  been  Democrats.] 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  SLAVERY  RESTRICTION. 


NAYS — Against  the  proposed  Annexation: 


Messrs.  Archer, 
Barrow, 
Bates, 
Bayard, 
Berrien, 
Choate, 
Clayton, 
Crittenden, 
Dayton, 
Evans, 
Foster, 
Francis 


Huntington, 

Jarnagin, 

Mangum, 

Miller, 

Morehead, 

Penrce, 

Phelps, 

Porter, 

Rives, 

Simmons, 

Upham, 

White, 


Woudbrid'ge— 25— [all  Whigs]. 

The  joint  resolve  being  thus  returned  to 
the  House  as  amended  by  the  Senate,  a  vote 
was  almost  immediately  taken  on  concurring, 
and  the  amendment  of  the  Senate  was  assent 
ed  to — Yeas,  134  ;  Nays,  77.  [A  strict  par 
ty  vote,  except  that  Mr.  Dellet  of  Alabama, 
(Whig)  voted  in  the  majority].  So  the  An 
nexation  of  Texas  was  decreed,  and  in  the 
following  terms : 

JOINT  RESOLUTION  FOR  ANNEXING  TEXAS  TO 
THE  UNITED  STATES. 

"  Resolved,  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Rep 
resentatives  of  the  United  States  in  Congress 
assembled,  That  Congress  doth  consent,  that  the 
territory  properly  included  within,  and  rightfully 
belonging  to,  the  Republic  of  Texas,  may  be 
erected  into  a  new  State,  to  be  called  the  State 
of  Texas,  with  a  Republican  form  of  government, 
to  be  adopted  by  the  people  of  said  Republic,  by 
deputies  in  convention  assembled,  with  the  con 
sent  of  the  existing  government,  in  order  that  the 
same  may  be  admitted  as  one  of  the  States  of 
this  Union. 

"  SEC.  2.  And  be  it  further  resolved,  That  the 
foregoing  consent  of  Congress  is  g^iven  upon  the 
following  conditions,  and  with  the  following  guar 
anties,  to  wit : 

"  First.  Said  State  to  be  formed,  subject  to  the 
adjustment  by  this  Government  of  all  questions 
of  boundary  that  may  arise  with  other  Govern 
ments  ;  and  the  constitution  thereof,  with  the 
proper  evidence  of  its  adoption  by  the  people  of 
said  Republic  of  Texas,  shall  be  transmitted  to 
the  President  of  the  United  States,  to  be  laid  be 
fore  Congress  for  its  final  action,  on  or  before  the 
first  day  of  January,  one  thousand  eight  hun 
dred  and  forty-six. 

"Second.  Said  State,  when  admitted  into  the 
Union,  after  ceding  to  the  United  States  all  pub 
lic  edifices,  fortifications,  barracks,  ports,  and 
harbors,  navy  and  navy  yards,  docks,  magazines, 
arms,  armaments,  and  all  other  property  and 
means  pertaining  to  the  public  defense,  belong 
ing  to  the  said  Republic  of  Texas,  shall  retain  all 
the  public  funds,  debts,  taxes,  and  dues  of  every 
kind  which  may  belong  to,  or  be  due  or  owing  said 
Republic  ;  and  shall  also  retain  all  the  vacant  or 
unappropriated  lands  lying  within  its  limits,  to  be 
applied  to  the  payment  of  the  debts  and  liabilities 
of  said  Republic  of  Texas;  and  the  residue  of 
Baid  lands,  after  discharging  said  debts  and  lia 
bilities,  to  become  a  charge  upon  the  United 
States. 

"  Third.  New  States  of  convenient  size,  not 
exceeding  four  in  number,  in  addition  to  the  said 
State  of  Texas,  and  having  sufficient  population, 
may  hereafter,  by  the  consent  of  said  State,  be 
formed  out  of  the  territory  thereof,  which  shall  be 
entitled  to  admission  under  the  provision  of  the 
Federal  Constitution ;  and  such  States  as  may  be 
formed  out  of  that  portion  of  said  territory  lying 


South  of  thirty-six  degrees  thirty  minutes  north 
latitude,  commonly  known  as  the  Missouri  Com 
promise  line,  shall  be  admitted  into  the  Union 
with  or  without  Slavery,  as  the  people  of  each 
State  asking  admission  may  desire.  And  in  such 
State  or  States  as  shall  be  formed  out  of  said  ter 
ritory  north  of  said  Missouri  Compromise  line, 
Slavery  or  involuntary  servitude  (except  for 
crime)  shall  be  prohibited. 

[WALKER'S  AMENDMENT — ADDED.] 
"  And  be  it  further  resolved,  That  if  the  Presi 
dent  of  the  United  States  shall,  in  his  judgment 
and  discretion,  deem  it  most  advisable,  instead 
of  proceeding  to  submit  the  foregoing  resolu 
tion  to  the  republic  of  Texas,  as  an  overture  on 
the  part  of  the  United  States,  for  admission,  to 
negotiate  with  that  Republic  ;  then, 

"  Be  it  resolved,  That  a  State  to  be  formed  out 
of  the  present  Republic  of  Texas,  with  suitable 
extent  and  boundaries,  and  with  two  representa 
tives  in  Congress,  until  the  next  apportionment 
of  representation,  shall  be  admitted  into  the 
Union  by  virtue  of  this  act,  on  an  equal  footing 
with  the  existing  States,  as  soon  as  the  terms  and 
conditions  of  such  admission,  and  the  cession 
of  the  remaining  Texan  territory  to  the  United 
States,  shall  be  agreed  upon  by  the  Governments 
of  Texas  and  the  United  States. 

"And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  the  sum.  of 
one  hundred  thousand  dollars  be,  and  the  same 
is  hereby,  appropriated  to  defray  the  expenses 
of  missions  and  negotiations,  to  agree  upon  the 
terms  of  said  admission  and  cession,  either  by 
treaty  to  be  submitted  to  the  Senate,  or  by  arti 
cles  to  be  submitted  to  the  two  Houses  oil  Con 
gress,  as  the  President  may  direct. 

"  Approved,  March  2, 1845." 

XI. 

THE    WILMOT    PROVISO. 

TEXAS  having  been  annexed  during  the 
summer  of  1845,  in  pursuance  of  the  forego 
ing  joint  resolution  of  the  two  Houses  of 
Congress,  a  portion  of  the  United  States 
Army,  under  Gen.  Taylor,  was,  early  in  the 
Spring  of  1846,  moved  down  to  the  east 
bank  of  the  Rio  Grande  del  Norte,  claim 
ed  by  Texas  as  her  Western  boundary,  but 
not  so  regarded  by  Mexico.  A  hostile  col 
lision  ensued,  resulting  in  war  between  the 
United  States  and  Mexico. 

It  was  early  thereafter  deemed:  advisable 
that  a  considerable  sum  should  be  placed  by 
Congress  at  the  President's  disposal,  to  ne 
gotiate  an  advantageous  Treaty  of  Peace 
and  Limits  with  the  Mexican  government. 
A  Message  to  this  effecj;  was  submitted  by 
President  Polk  to  Congress,  August  8th, 
1846,  and  a  bill  in  accordance  with  its  sug 
gestions  laid  before  the  House,  which  pro 
ceeded  to  consider  the  subject  in  Committee 
of  the  Whole.  The  bill  appropriating  $30,000 
for  immediate  use  in  negotiations  with  Mexi 
co,  and  placing  $2,000,000  more  at  the  dis 
posal  of  the  President,  to  be  employed  in 
making  peace,  Mr.  David  Wilmot,  of  Pa., 
after  consultation  with  other  Northern  Demo 
crats,  offered  the  following  Proviso,  in  ad 
dition  to  the  first  section  of  the  bill : 

"  Provided,  That  as  an  express  and  fundament 
al  condition  to  the  acquisition  of  any  territory 


THE  WILMOT  PROVISO. 


4.5 


from  the  Republic  of  Mexico  by  the  United  States, 
by  virtue  of  any  treaty  which  may  be  negotiated 
between  them,  and  to  the  use  by  the  Executive 
of  the  moneys  herein  appropriated,  neither 
Slavery  nor  involuntary  servitude  shall  ever  ex 
ist  in  any  part  of  said  territory,  except  for  crime, 
whereof  the  party  shall  first  be  duly  convicted." 

This  proviso  was  carried  in  Committee, 
by  the  strong  vote  of  eighty-three  to  sixty- 
four — only  three  Members  (Democrats)  from 
the  Free  States,  it  was  said,  opposing  it. 
[No  record  is  made  of  individual  votes  in 
Committee  of  the  Whole.]  The  bill  was 
then  reported  to  the  House,  and  Mr.  Rath- 
bun  of  N.  Y.  moved  the  previous  question 
on  its  engrossment. 

Mr.  Tibbatts  of  Ky.  moved  that  it  do 
lie  on  the  table  Defeated  —  Yeas  79; 
[Stephen  A.  Douglas,  John  A.  McCler- 
iiand,  John  Pettit,  and  Robert  C.  Schcnck, 
voting  with  the  South  to  lay  on  the  table]  ; 
Nays  93  ;  [Henry  Grider  and  William  P. 
Thomasson  of  Ky.  (Whigs)  voting  with  the 
North  against  it]. 

The  bill  was  then  engrossed  for  its  third 
reading  by  Yeas  85,  Nays  80  ;  and  thus 
passed  without  further  division.  A  motion 
to  reconsider  was  laid  on  the  table — Yeas 
71  ;  Nays  83.  So  the  bill  was  passed  and 
sent  to  the  Senate,  where  Mr.  Dixon  H. 
Lewis  of  Ala.  moved  that  the  Proviso 
above  cited  be  stricken  out ;  on  which  de 
bate  arose,  and  Mr.  John  Davis  of  Mass, 
was  speaking  when,  at  noon  of  August  10th, 
the  time  fixed  for  adjournment  having  ar 
rived,  both  Houses  adjourned  without  day. 

[NOTE. — We  do  not  give  the  Yeas  and  Nays 
on  the  divisions  just  above,  the  House  having 
been  quite  thin  when  they  were  taken,  and  some 
Northern  Members  voting  with  the  South  from 
hostility  to  the  whole  project  of  buying  either 
peace  or  territory.  Generally,  however,  the  vote 
ran  much  as  former  divisions  would  lead  one  to 
expect.  Mr.  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  and  some 
other  friends  of  the  original  bill,  voted  against  it 
at  every  stage  after  the  Proviso  was  added.] 

The  XXXth  Congress  assembled  Dec.  6, 
1847. 

Feb.  18th,  1848,  Mr.  Putnam  of  N.  York 
moved  the  following : 

"  Whereas,  In  the  settlement  of  the  difficulties 
pending  between  this  country  and  Mexico,  terri 
tory  may  be  acquired  in  which  Slavery  does  not 
now  exist : 

"  And  whereas,  Congress,  in  the  organization 
of  a  territorial  government,  at  an  early  period  of 
our  political  history,  established  a  principle  worthy 
of  imitation  in  all  future  time,  forbidding  the  ex 
istence  of  Slavery  in  free  territory ;  Therefore, 

"  Resolved,  That  in  any  territory,  that  may  be 
acquired  from  Mexico,  over  which'shall  be  estab 
lished  territorial  governments,  Slavery,  or  involun 
tary  servitude,  except  as  a  punishment  for  crime, 
whereof  the  party  shall  have  been  duly  convicted, 
shall  be  forever  prohibited  ;  and  that  in  any  act 
or  resolution  establishing  such  governments,  a 
fundamental  provision  ought  to  be  inserted  to  that 
effect." 


Mr.  R.  Brodhcad  of  Penn.  moved  that  this 
resolution  lie  on  the  table.  Carried  ;  Yeas, 
105  ;  Nays,  93. 

[Yeas — all  the  members  from  Slave  States, 
but  John  W.  Houston  (Whig),  of  Delaware, 
with  the  following  from  Free  States  (all 
Democrats  but  Levin)  : 

MAINE. — Asa  W.  II.  Clapp,  Franklin  Clark,  Jas. 
S.  Wiley,  Hezekiah  Williams — 4. 

NKW-YORK. — Ausburu  Birdsall,  David  S.  Jack- 
son,  Frederick  W.  Lord,  William  B.  Maclay — 4. 

PENNSYLVANIA.— Richard  Brodhend,  Charles 
Brown,  Lewis  C.  Levin,  Job  Mann — 4. 

OHIO. — William  Kennon,  jr.,  John  K.  Miller, 
Thomas  Richey,  William  Sawyer — 4. 

INDIANA.  —  Charles  W.  Cathead,  Thomas  J. 
Henley,  John  Petitt,  John  L.  Robinson,  William 
W.  Wick— 5. 

ILLINIOS.— Orlando  B.  Ficklin.  John  A.  Mc- 
Clernand,  William  A.  Richardson,  Robert  Smith, 
Thomas  J.  Turner — 5. 

Nays — all  the  Whigs  and  a  large  majority 
of  the  Democrats  from  Free  States,  with 
John  W.  Houston  aforesaid. 

This  vote  terminated  all  direct  action  in 
favor  of  the  Wilmot  proviso  for  that  Ses 
sion. 

July  18th.— In  Senate,  Mr.  Clayton  of 
Del.,  from  the  Select  Committee  to  which 
was  referred,  on  the  12th  inst.,  the  bill  pro 
viding  a  territorial  government  for  Oregon, 
reported  a  bill  to  establish  Territorial  gov 
ernments  for  Oregon,  New  Mexico,  and  Cali 
fornia,  which  was  read.  [It  proposed  to 
submit  all  questions  as  to  the  rightful  exist 
ence  or  extent  of  Slavery  in  the  Territories 
to  the  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States.] 

July  24£/i. — Second  reading.  Mr.  Bald 
win  of  Conn,  moved  to  strike  out  so  much 
of  said  bill  as  relates  to  California  and  New 
Mexico.  Rejected;  Yeas,  17  (Northern 
Free  Soil  men  of  both  parties)  ;  Nays,  37. 

The  bill  was  discussed  through  several 
succeeding  days.  On  the  26th,  Mr.  Clarke 
of  B.  I.  moved  to  add  to  the  6th  section : 

"  Provided,  however,  That  no  law,  regulation,  or 
act  of  the  provisional  government  of  said  Territory 
permitting  Slavery  or  involuntary  servitude  there 
in  shall  be  valid,  until  the  same  shall  be  approved 
by  Congress.'1 

Rejected;  Yeas,  19  [Col.  Benton,  and 
18  Northern  Freesoilers  of  both  parties]  ; 
Nays,  33. 

Mr.  Reverdy  Johnson  of  Md.  moved  to 
amend  the  bill  by  inserting — 

"  Except  only,  that  in  all  cases  of  title  to  Slaves, 
the  said  writs  of  error  or  appeals  shall  be  allowed 
and  decided  by  the  said  Supreme  Court  without 
regard  to  the  value  of  the  matter,  property,  or 
title  in  controversy;  and  except,  also,  that  a  writ 
of  error  or  appeal  shall  also  be  allowed  to  the  Su 
preme  Court  of  the  United  States  from  the  decision 
of  the  said  Supreme  Court  created  by  this  act.  or 
of  any  }udge  thereof,  or  of  the  district  Courts  crea 
ted  by 'this  act,  or  of  any  judge  upon  any  writ  of 
habeas  corpus  involving  the  question  of  personal 
freedom." 

Carried  :  Yeas,  31  (all  sorts) ;  Nays,  19 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  SLAVERY  RESTRICTION. 


(all  Southern,  but  Bright,  Dickinson,  and 
Hannegan). 

Mr.  Baldwin  of  Conn,  moved  an  additional 
section,  as  follows : 

"  SEC.  37.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  it 
shall  be  the  duty  of  the  attorneys  for  said  Terri 
tones,  respectively,  on  the  complaint  of  any  per 
son  held  in  involuntary  servitude  therein,  to  make 
application  in  his  behalf  in  due  form  of  law,  to 
the  court  next  thereafter  to  be  holden  in  said  Ter 
ritory,  for  a  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  to  be  directed 
to  the  person  so  holding  such  applicant  in  service 
as  aforesaid,  and  to  pursue  all  needful  measures  in 
his  behalf;  and  if  the  decision  of  such  court  shall 
be  adverse  to  the  application,  or  if,  on  the  return 
of  the  writ,  relief  shall  be  denied  to  the  applicant, 
on  the  ground  that  he  is  a  slave  held  in  servitude 
in  said  Territory,  said  attorney  shall  cause  an  ap 
peal  to  be  taken  therefrom,  and  the  record  of  all 
the  proceedings  in  the  case  to  be  transmitted  to 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  as  speedily 
as  may  be,  and  to  give  notice  thereof  to  the  At 
torney  General  of  the  United  States,  who  shall 
prosecute  the  same  before  said  Court,  who  shall 
proceed  to  hear  and  determine  the  same  at  the 
first  term  thereof." 

Teas,  15  (all  Northern,  except  Benton) : 
Nays,  31. 

Mr.  Davis  of  Mass,  moved  to  strike  out 
section  12.  and  insert  as  follows  : 

"  Sec.  12.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  so 
much  of  the  sixth  section  of  the  ordinance  of  the 
13th  July,  1787,  as  is  contained  in  the  following 
words  ;  viz  :  '  There  shall  be  neither  Slavery  nor 
involuntary  servitude  in  the  said  Territory, 
otherwise  than  in  the  punishment  of  crimes, 
whereof  the  party  shall  have  been  duly  convict 
ed,'  shall  be  and  remain  in  force  in  the  Territory 
of  Oregon." 

This  was  defeated  ;  Yeas,  21  ;  Nays,  33,  as 
follows : 

YEAS— For  the  Slavery  Prohibition: 
Messrs.  Allen,  Ohio.  Dodge,  Wise 

Atherton,  N.  H.     Felch,  Mich. 
Baldwin,  Conn.     Fitzgerald,  Mich. 
Benton,  Mo.  Greene,  It.  I. 

Bradbury,  Mo.  Hale,  N.  H. 
Clarke,  R.  I.  Hamlin,  Me. 
Corwin,  Ohio,  Miller,  N.  J. 
Davis,  Mass.  Niles,  Conn. 
Dayton,  N.  J.  Spruance,  Del. 
Dix,  N.  Y.  Upham,  Vt. 

Walker,  Wis.— 21. 

NAYS— Against    the  Slavery  Prohibition: 

Messrs.  Atchison,  Mo.  Houston,  Texas. 

Badger,  N.  C.  Hunter,  Va. 

Bell,  Teun.  Johnson,  Md. 

Berrien,  Ga.  Johnson,  La. 

Borland,  Ark.  Johnson.  Ga. 

Breese,  111.  King,  Ala. 

Bright,  Ind.  Lewis,  Ala. 

Butler,  S.  C.  Mangum,  N.  C. 

Calhoun,  S   C.  Mason,  Va. 

Clayton,  Del.  Metcalf,  Ky. 

Davis,  Misa.  Rusk,  Texas, 

Dickinson,  N.  Y.  Sebastian,  Ark. 

Douglas,  111.  Sturgeon.  Pa. 

Downs,  La.  Turney,  Tenn. 

Foote,  Miss.  Underwood,  Ky. 

Hanuegan,  Ind.  Westcott,  Fla. 
Yulee— 33. 

The  bill  was  then  engrossed  for  a  third 
reading;  Yeas,  33;  Nays,  22;  as  fol 
lows  : 


YEAS — For  Clayton's    Compromise: 

Messrs.  Atchison,  Houston, 

Atherton,  Hunter, 

Benton,  Johnson,  Md. 

Berrien,  Johnson,  La. 

Borland,  Johnson,  Ga. 

Breese,  King, 

Bright,  Lewis, 

Butler,  Mangum, 

Calhoun,  Mason, 

Clayton,  Phelps, 

Davis,  Miss.  Rusk, 

Dickinson,  Sebastian, 

Douglas,  Spruance, 

Downs,  Sturgeon, 

Foote,  Turney, 

Haunegan,  Westcott, 
Yulee— 33. 


NA  YS— Against 
Messrs.  Allen, 
Badger, 
Baldwin, 
Bell, 

Bradbury, 
Clarke, 
Corwin, 
Davis,  Mass. 
Dayton, 
Dix. 
Dodge, 


Clayton's  bill 

Felch, 

Fitzgerald, 

Greene, 

Hale, 

Hamlin, 

Metcalf, 

Miller, 

Niles, 

Underwood, 

Upham, 

Walker— 22. 


So  the  bill  was  engrossed,  and  immedi 
ately  passed  without  a  division. 

July  2Sth.~- This  bill  reached  the  House, 
and  was  taken  up  and  read  twice. 

Mr.  _  Linn  Boyd  of  Ky.  moved  it  to  a 
Committee  of  the  Whole  on  the  State  of  the 
Union. 

Mr.  C.  B.  Smith  of  Ind.  moved  .and  ob 
tained  a  call  of  the  House,  when  all  but 
eighteen  Members  responded. 

Mr.  A.  H.  Stephens  of  Ga.  moved  that 
the  bill  do  lie  on  the  table.  Yeas  and  Nays 
ordered,  and  the  motion  prevailed  :  Yeas, 
112  ;  Nays,  97. 

Yeas  all  the  Free  State  Whigs,  with  the 
following  Whigs  from  Slave  States  : 

VIRGINIA.— John  S.  Pendleton— 1. 

NORTH  CAROLINA. — Nathaniel  Baydon,  Rich 
ard  S.  Donnell— 2. 

GEORGIA.— Alex.  H.  Stephens— 1. 

KENTUCKY.— Green  Adams,  Aylett  Buckner, 
John  B.  Thompson— 3. 

TENNESSEE.— John  H.  Crozier— 1. 

Total,  eight  Whigs- from  Slave  States. 
Democrats  from  Free  States  : 

MAINE.— Asa  W.  H.  Clapp,  David  Hammons, 
Ephraim  K.  Smart,  James  S.  Wiley — 4. 

NEW-HAMPSHIRE.— Charles  H.  Peaslee— 1. 

VERMONT. — Lucius  B.  Peck — 1. 

RHODE  ISLAND. — Benjamin  B.  Thurston— 1. 

NEW  YORK.— William  Collins,  Timothy  Jen 
kins,  Sidney  Lawrence,  Frederick  W.  Lord, 
William  B.  Maclay,  Henry  Nicoll,  George  A. 
Starkweather— 7. 

PENNSYLVANIA — Wm.  Strong,  James  Thomp 
son,  David  Wilmot — 3. 

OHIO. — James  J.  Faran,  George  Fries,  Samuel 
Lahm  Jonathan  D.  Morris_4. 

INDIANA. — Thomas  J.  Henley— I. 

ILLINOIS Robert  Smith,  John  WentTrorth— 2. 


THE  WILMOT  PROVISO. 


MICHIGAN.  —  Kinsley  S.  Bingham,  Robert 
McClelland,  Charles  E.  Stuart — 3. 

WISCONSIN.— Mason  C.  Darling,  William  Pitt 
Lynde — 2. 

IOWA.— William  Thompson.  _1. 

Total  Democrats  from  Free  States — 30. 

Total  Whigs  from  Free  States— 74. 

Nays,  21  Democrats  from  Free  States, 
with  76  Democrats  and  Whigs  from  Slave 
States. 

Mr.  Pollock  of  Pa.  moved  that  this  vote 
be  reconsidered,  and  that  the  motion  to  re 
consider  do  lie  on  the  table  ;  which  prevailed 
— Yeas,  113  ;  Nays,  96.  (Vote  same  as  be 
fore,  except  that  Mr.  Franklin  Clark  of 
Maine  changed  from  the  minority  to  the 
majority.) 

So  Mr.  Clayton's  project  of  Compromise 
was  defeated. 

GEN.  CASS'S  NICHOLSON  LETTER. 

Immediately  after  the  adjournment  of 
Congress,  in  1847,  Gen.  Cass  was  currently 
reported  to  have  expressed  his  favorable 
opinion  of  the  Wilmot  Proviso,  and  his  re 
gret  that  Mr.  Davis's  untimely  remarks  in 
the  Senate  had  deprived  him  (Cass)  of  an 
opportunity  of  recording  his  vote  in  its  favor. 
This  remark  he  was  said  to  have  made  in  a 
railroad  car,  on  his  homeward  journey  from 
Washington.  If  such  a  position  were  taken 
by  him.  however,  it  was  not  long  maintained  ; 
as  the  following  letter  from  his  pen  appeared 
during  the  winter  of  1847-8,  and  proved  a 
prelude  to  the  nomination  of  the  writer  for 
President,  by  the  Democratic  National  Con 
vention  which  assembled  at  Baltimore  in  the 
spring  of  1848.  It  may  be  regarded  as  the 
first  logical  and  well-considered  enunciation 
of  the  doctrine  of  "  Squatter  Sovereignty." 

Gen.  Cass  to  A.  O.  P.  Nicholson. 

WASHINGTON,  Dec.  24.  1847. 

DEAR  SIR, — I  have  received  your  letter,  and 
shall  answer  it  as  frankly  as  it  is  written. 

Yon  ask  rne  whether  I  am  in  favor  of  the  ac 
quisition  of  Mexican  territory,  and  what  are  my 
sentiments  with  regard  to  the  Wilmot  Proviso. 

I  have  so  often  and  so  explicitly  stated  my 
views  of  the  first  question,  in  the  Senate,  that  it 
seems  almost  unnecessary  to  repeat  them  here. 
As  you  request  it,  however,  I  shall  briefly  give 
them. 

I  think,  then,  that  no  peace  should  be  granted 
to  Mexico,  till  a  reasonable  indemnity  is  obtained 
for  the  injuries  which  she  has  done  us.  The  ter 
ritorial  extent  of  this  indemnity  is,  in  the  first 
instance,  a  subject  of  Executive  consideration. 
There  the  Constitution  has  placed  it,  and  there  I 
am  willing  to  leave  it :  not  only  because  I  have 
full  confidence  in  its  judicious  exercise,  but  be 
cause,  in  the  ever- vary  ing  circumstances  of  a  war, 
it  would  be  indiscreet,  by  a  public  declaration, 
to  commit  the  country  to  any  line  of  indemnity, 
which  might  otherwise  be  enlarged,  as  the  obsti 
nate  injustice  of  the  enemy  prolongs  the  contest, 
with  its  loss  of  blood  and  treasure. 

It  appears  to  me,  that  the  kind  of  metaphysical 
magnanimity  which  would  reject  all  indemnity 
at  the  close  of  a  bloody  and  expensive  war, 
brought  on  by  a  direct  attack  upon  our  troops  by 
the  enemy,  and  preceded  by  a  succession  of  unjust 


acts  for  a  series  of  years,  is  as  unworthy  of  the 
age  in  which  we  live,  as  it  is  revolting  to  tho 
common  sense  and  practice  of  mankind.  It  would 
conduce  but  little  to  our  future  security,  or,  in 
deed,  to  our  present  reputation,  to  declare  that 
we  repudiate  all  expectation  of  compensation  from 
the  Mexican  Government,  and  are  fighting,  not 
for  any  practical  result,  but  for  some  vague,  per- 
haps  philanthropic  object,  which  escapes  my 
I  penetration,  and  must  be  defined  by  those  who 
I  assume  this  new  principle  of  national  intercom 
munication.  All  wars  arc  to  be  deprecated,  aa 
well  by  the  statesman  as  by  the  philanthropist. 
They  are  great  evils  ;  but  there  arc  greater  evils 
than  these,  and  submission  to  injustice  is  among 
them.  The  nation  which  should  refuse  to  defend 
its  rights  and  its  honor,  when  assailed,  would 
eoon  have  neither  to  defend ;  and,  when  driven  to 
war,  it  is  not  by  professions  of  disinterestedness 
and  declarations  of  magnanimity  thai  its  rational 
objects  can  bo  best  obtained,  or  other  nations 
taught  a  lesson  of  forbearance— the  strongest  se 
curity  for  permanent  peace.  We  are  at  war  with 
Mexico,  and  its  vigorous  prosecution  is  the  surest 
means  of  its  speedy  termination,  and  ample  in 
demnity  the  surest  guaranty  against  the  recur- 
j.  rence  of  such  injustice  aa  provoked  it. 

The  Wilmot  Proviso  has  been  before  the  coun- 
I  try  some  time.  It  has  been  repeatedly  discussed 
in  Congress,  and  by  the  public  Press.  I  am 
strongly  impressed  with  the  opinion,  that  a  great 
change  has  been  going  on  in  the  public  mind  upon 
this  subject,  in  my  own  as  well  as  others  ;  and 
that  doubts  are  resolving  themselves  into  convic 
tions,  that  the  principle  it  involves  should  be  kept 
out  of  the  National  Legislature,  and  left  to  the 
people  of  the  confederacy  in  their  respective  local 
governments. 

The  whole  subject  is  a  comprehensive  one,  and 
fruitful  of  important  consequences.  It  would  be 
ill-timed  to  discuss  it  here.  I  shall  not  assume 
that  responsible  task,  but  shall  confine  myself  to 
such  general  views  as  are  necessary  to  the  fair 
exhibition  of  my  opinions. 

We  may  well  regret  the  existence  of  Slavery  in 
the  Southern  States,  and  wish  they  had  been 
saved  from  its  introduction.  But  there  it  is,  not 
by  the  act  of  the  present  generation  ;  and  we  must 
deal  with  it  as  a  great  practical  question,  involv 
ing  the  most  momentous  consequences.  We  have 
neither  the  right  nor  the  power  to  touch  it  where 
it  exists ;  and  if  we  had  both,  their  exercise,  by 
any  means  heretofore  suggested,  might  lead  to 
results  which  no  wise  man  would  willingly  en 
counter,  and  which  no  good  man  could  contem 
plate  without  anxiety. 

The  theory  of  our  Government  presupposes 
that  its  various  members  have  reserved  to  them 
selves  the  regulation  of  all  subjects  relating  to 
what  may  be  termed  their  internal  police.  They 
are  sovereign  within  their  boundaries,  except  in 
those  cases  where  they  have  surrendered  to  the 
General  Government  a  portion  of  their  rights,  in 
order  to  give  eifect  to  the  objects  of  the  Union, 
whether  these  concern  foreign  nations  or  the  seve 
ral  States  themselves.  Local  institutions,  if  I 
may  so  speak,  whether  they  have  reference  to 
Slavery  or  to  any  other  relations,  domestic  or 
public,  are  left  to  local  authority,  either  original 
or  derivative.  Congress  has  no  right  to  say  that 
there  shall  be  Slavery  in  New-York,  or  that  there 
shall  be  no  Slavery  in  Georgia  ;  nor  is  there  any 
other  human  power,  but  the  people  of  those  States, 
respectively,  which  can  change  the  relations  ex 
isting  therein;  and  they  can  say,  if  they  will,  We 
will  have  Slavery  in  the  former,  and  we  will 
abolish  it  in  the  latter. 

In  various  respects,  the  Territories  differ  from 
the  States.  Some  of  their  rights  are  inchoate,  and 
they  do  not  possess  the  peculiar  attributes  of 
sovereignty.  Their  relation  to  the  General  Gov- 


48 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  SLAVERY  RESTRICTION. 


eminent  is  very  imperfectly  defined  by  the  Con 
stitution  ;  and  it  will  be  found,  upon  examination, 
that  in  that  instrument  the  only  grant  of  power 
concerning  them  is  conveyed  in  the  phrase, 
"  Congress  shall  have  the  power  to  dispose  of  and 
make  all  needful  rules  and  regulations,  respecting 
the  territory  and  other  property  belonging  to  the 
United  States."  Certainly  this  phraseology  is 
very  loose,  if  it  were  designed  to  include  in  the 
grant  the  whole  power  of  legislation  over  persons, 
as  well  as  things.  The  expression,  the  "  territory 
and  other  property,"  fairly  construed,  relates  to 
the  public  hinds,  as  such  ;  to  arsenals,  dockyards, 
forts,  ships,  and  all  the  various  kinds  of  property 
which  the  United  States  may  and  must  possess. 

But  surely  the  simple  authority  to  dispose  of 
and  regulate  these  does  not  extend  to  the  un 
limited  power  of  legislation  ;  to  the  passage  of  all 
laws,  in  the  most  general  acceptation  of  the  word  ; 
which,  by-the-by,  is  carefully  excluded  from  the 
sentence.  And,  indeed,  if  this  were  so,  it  Avould 
render  unnecessary  another  provision  of  the  Con 
stitution,  which  grants  to  Congress  the  power  to 
legislate,  with  the  consent  of  the  States,  respec 
tively,  over  all  places  purchased  for  the  "  erec 
tion  efforts,  magazines,  arsenals,  dockyards,"  etc. 
These  being  the  "property''  of  the  United  States, 
if  the  power  to  make  "  needful  rules  and  regula 
tions  concerning"  them  includes  the  general 
power  of  legislation,  then  the  grant  of  authority 
to  regulate  "  the  territory  and  other  property  of 
the  United  States"  is  unlimited,  wherever  subjects 
are  found  for  its  operation,  and  its  exercise  needed 
no  auxiliary  provision.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  it 
does  not  include  such  power  of  legislation  over  the 
"other  property"  of  the  United  States,  then  it 
does  not  include  it  over  their  "  territory  ;"  for  the 
same  terms  which  grant  the  one,  grant  the  other. 
"  Territory''  is  here  classed  with  property,  and 
treated  as  such  ;  and  the  object  was  evidently  to 
enable  the  General  Government,  as  a  property- 
bolder — which,  from  necessity,  it  must  be — to 
manage,  preserve  and  "  dispose  of"  such  property 
as  it  might  possess,  and  which  authority  is  essen 
tial  almost  to  its  being.  But  the  lives  and  persons 
of  our  citizens,  with  the  vast  variety  of  objects 
connected  with  them,  cannot  be  controlled  by  an 
authority  which  is  merely  called  into  existence 
for  the  purpose  of  making  rules  and  regulations 
for  the  disposition  and  management  oj  property . 

Such,  it  appears  to  me,  would  be  the  construc 
tion  put  upon  this  provision  of  the  Constitution, 
were  this  question  now  first  presented  for  consid 
eration,  and  not  controlled  by  imperious  circum 
stances.  The  original  ordinance  of  the  Congress 
of  the  Confederation,  passed  in  J787,  and  which 
was  the  only  act  upon  this  subject  in  force  at  the 
adoption  of  the  Constitution,  provided  a  complete 
frame  of  government  for  the  country  north  of 
the  Ohio,  while  in  a  territorial  condition,  and  for 
its  eventual  admission  in  separate  States  into  the 
Union.  And  the  persuasion  that  this  ordinance 
contained  within  itself  all  the  necessary  means 
of  execution,  probably  prevented  any  direct  re 
ference  to  the  subject  in  the  Constitution,  further 
than  vesting  in  Congress  the  right  to  admit  the 
States  formed  under  it  into  the  Union.  However, 
circumstances  arose,  which  required  legislation, 
as  well  over  the  territory  north  of  the  Ohio  as 
over  other  territory,  both  within  and  without  the 
original  Union,  ceded  to  the  general  Government, 
and,  at  various  times,  a  more  enlarged  power  has 
been  exercised  over  the  Territories — meaning 
thereby  the  different  Territorial  Governments — 
than  is  conveyed  by  the  limited  grant  referred  to. 
How  far  an  existing  necessity  may  have  operated 
in  producing  this  legislation,  and  thus  extending, 
by  rather  a  violent  implication,  powers  not  direct 
ly  given,  I  know  not.  But  certain  it  is  that  the 
principle  of  interference  should  not  be  carried  be 
yond  the  nece'sdary  implication,  which  produces 


it.  It  should  be  limited  to  the  creation  of  proper 
governments  for  new  countries,  acquired  or  set 
tled,  and  to  the  necessary  provision  for  their 
|  eventual  admission  into  the  Union ;  leaving,  in 
j  the  mean  time,  to  the  people  inhabiting  them,  to 
regulate  their  internal  concerns  in  their  own  way. 
They  are  just  as  capable  of  doing  so  as  the  peo 
ple  of  the  States ;  and  they  can  do  so,  at  any 
rate  as  soon  as  their  political  independence  ifl 
recognized  by  admission  into  the  Union.  During 
this  temporary  condition,  it  is  hardly  expedient 
to  call  into  exercise  a  doubtful  and  invidious 
authority,  which  questions  the  intelligence  of  a 
respectable  portion  of  our  citizens,  and  whose 
limitation,  whatever  it  may  be,  will  be  rapidly 
approaching  its  termination — an  authority  which 
would  give  to  Congress  despotic  power,  uncon 
trolled  by  the  Constitution,  over  most  important 
sections  of  our  common  country.  For,  if  the  re 
lation  of  master  and  servant  may  be  regulated  or 
annihilated  by  its  legislation,  so  may  the  regula 
tion  of  husband  and  wife,  of  parent  and  child, 
and  of  any  other  condition  which  our  institutions 
and  the  habits  of  our  society  recognize.  What 
would  be  thought  if  Congress  should  undertake 
to  prescribe  the  terms  of  marriage  in  New-York, 
or  to  regulate  the  authority  of  parents  over  their 
children  in  Pennsylvania?  And  yet  it  would  be 
as  vain  to  seek  one  justifying  the  interference  of 
the  national  legislature  in  the  cases  referred  to  in 
the  original  States  of  the  Union.  I  speak  here 
of  the  inherent  power  of  Congress,  and  do  not 
touch  the  question  of  such  contracts  as  may  bo 
formed  -with  new  States  when  admitted  into  the 
confederacy. 

Of  all  the  questions  that  can  agitate  us,  those 
which  are  merely  sectional  in  their  character  are 
the  most  dangerous,  nnd  the  most  to  be  depre 
cated.  The  warning  voice  of  him  who  from  his 
character  and  services  and  virtue  had  the  best 
right  to  warn  us,  proclaimed  to  his  countrymen, 
in  his  Farewell  Address — that  monument  of  wis 
dom  for  him,  as  I  hope  it  will  be  of  safety  for 
them — how  much  we  had  to  apprehend  from 
measures  peculiarly  affecting  geographical  sec 
tions  of  our  country.  The  grave  circumstances 
in  which  we  are  now  placed  make  these  words 
words  of  safety;  for  I  am  satisfied,  from  all  I 
have  seen  and  heard  here,  that  a  successful  at 
tempt  to  engraft  the  principles  of  the  Wilmot 
Proviso  upon  the  legislation  of  this  Governmc 


and  to  apply  them  to  new  territory,  should  new 
territory  be  acquired,  would  seriously  affect  our 
tranquillity.  I  do  not  suffer  myself  to  foresee  or 
to  foretell  the  consequences  that  would  ensue ; 
for  I  trust  and  believe  there  is  good  sense  and 
good  feeling  enough  in  the  country  to  avoid  them, 
by  avoiding  all  occasions  which  might  lead  to 
them. 

Briefly,  then,  I  am  opposed  to  the  exercise  of 
any  jurisdiction  by  Congress  over  this  matter ; 
and  I  am  in  favor  of  leaving  to  the  people  of  any 
territory,  which  may  be  hereafter  acquired,  the 
right  to  regulate  it  for  themselves,  under  the 
general  principles  of  "the  Constitution.  Bo- 
cause — 

1.  I  do  not  see  in  the  Constitution  any  grant  of 
the  requisite  power  to  Congress ;  and  1  am  not 
disposed  to  extend  n  doubtful  precedent  beyond 
its    necessity — the    establishment    of    territorial 
governments  when  needed — leaving  to  the  inhabit 
ants  all  the  rights  compatible  with  the  relations 
they  bear  to  the  confederation. 

2.  Because  I  believe  this  measure,  if  adopted, 
would  weaken,  if  not  impair,  the  union  of  the 
States  ;  and  would  sow  the  seeds  of  future  discord, 
which  would  grow  up  and  ripen  into  an  abundant 
harvest  of  calamity. 

3.  Because  I  believe  a  general  conviction  that 
such  a  proposition  would  succeed,  would  lead  to 
an  immediate  withholding  of  the  supplies,  and 


THE  WILMOT  PROVISO. 


49 


thus  to  a  dishonorable  termination  of  the  war.  I 
think  no  dispassionate  observer  at  the  seat  of 
Government  can  doubt  this  result. 

4.  If,  however,  in  this  I  am  under  a  misappre 
hension,  I  am  under  none  in  the  practical  opera 
tion  of  this   restriction,  if  adopted  by  Congress, 
upon  a  treaty  of  peace,  making  any  acquisition 
of^  Mexican  territory.      Such  a  treaty  would  be 
rejected  as  certainly  as  presented  to  the  Senate. 
More  than  one-third  of  that   body  would  vote 
against  it,  viewing  such  a  principle  as  an  exclu 
sion   of  the  citizens  of  the  slaveholding  States 
from  a  participation  in  the  benefits  acquired  by 
the  treasure   and  exertions    of   all,   and    which 
should  be  common  to  all.       I    am   repeating — 
neither    advancing  nor  defending  these  views. 
That  branch  of  the  subject  does  not  lie  in  my 
way,  aud  I  shall  not  turn  aside  to  seek  it. 

In  this  aspect  of  the  matter,  the  people  of  the 
United  States  must  choose  between  this  restric 
tion  and  the  extension  of  their  territorial  limits. 
They  cannot  have  both;  and  which  they  will  sur 
render  must  depend  upon  their  representatives 
first,  and  then,  if  these  fail  them,  upon  them 
selves. 

5.  But  after  all,  it  seems  to  be  generally  con 
ceded  that  this  restriction,  if  carried  into  effect, 
could  not  operate  upon  any  State  to  be  formed 
from  newly-acquired  territory.     The  well-known 
attributes  of  sovereignty,   recognized  by  us   as 
belonging  to  the  State  Governments,  would  sweep 
before  them  any  such  barrier,  and  would  leave 
the  people  to  express  and  exert  their  will  at  plea 
sure.     Is  the  object,  then,  of  temporary  exclusion 
for  so  short  a  period  as  the  duration  of  the  Terri 
torial  Governments,  worth  the  price  at  which  it 
it  would  be  purchased? — worth  the  discord    it 
would  engender,  the  trial  to  which  it  would  expose 
our  Union,  and  the  evils  that  would  be  the  certain 
consequence,  let  the  trial  result  as  it  might?     As 
to  the  course,  which  has  been  intimated,  rather 
than  proposed,  of  engrafting  such  a  restriction 
upon  any  treaty  of  acquisition,  I  persuade  myself 
it  would  find  but  little  favor  in  any  portion  of  this 
country.      Such    an    arrangement  would  render 
Mexico  a  party,  having  a  right  to  interfere  in  our 
internal  institutions  in  questions  left  by  the  Con 
stitution  to  the  State  Governments,  and  would  in 
flict  a  serious  blow  upon  our  fundamental  princi 
ples.     Few,  indeed,  1  trust,  there  are  among  us 
who  would  thus  grant  to  a  foreign  power  the  right 
to  inquire  into  the  constitution  and  conduct  of  the 
sovereign  States  of  this  Union ;  and  if  there  are 
any,  I  am  not  among  them,  nor  never  shall  be.    To 
the  people  of  this  country,  under  God,  now  and 
hereafter,  are  its   destinies   committed ;   and  we 
want  no  foreign  power  to  interrogate  us,  treaty  in 
hand,  and  to  say,  Why  have  you  done  this,  or 
why  have  you  left  that  undone  ?    Our  own  dignity 
and  the  principles  of  national  independence  unite 
to  repel  such  a  proposition. 

But  there  is  another  important  consideration, 
which  ought  not  to  be  lost  sight  of,  in  the  in 
vestigation  of  this  subject.  The  question  that 
E resents  itself  is  not  a  question  of  the  increase, 
ut  of  the  diffusion  of  Slavery.  Whether  its 
sphere  be  stationary  or  progressive,  its  amount 
will  be  the  same.  The  rejection  of  this  restriction 
will  not  add  one  to  the  class  of  servitude,  nor  will 
its  adoption  give  freedom  to  a  single  being  who 
is  now  placed  therein.  The  same  numbers  will  be 
spread  over  greater  territory  ;  and,  so  far  as  com 
pression,  with  less  abundance  of  the  necessaries 
of  life,  is  an  evil,  so  far  will  that  evil  be  mitigated 
by  transporting  slaves  to  a  new  country,  and  giv 
ing  them  a  larger  space  to  occupy. 

I  say  this  in  the  event  of  the  extension  of  Slavery 
over  any  new  acquisition.  But  can  it  go  there"? 
This  may  well  bo  doubted.  All  the  descriptions 
which  reach  us  of  the  condition  of  the  Californias 
and  of  New-Mexico,  to  the  acquisition  of  which 
4 


our  efforts  seem  at  present  directed,  unite  in  rep 
resenting  those  countries  as  agricultural  regions, 
similar  in  their  products  to  our  Middle  States,  and 
generally  unfit  for  the  production  of  the  great 
staples  which  can  alone  render  Slave  labor  valu 
able.  If  we  are  not  grossly  deceived — and  it  is 
difficult  to  conceive  how  we  can  be— the  inhabit 
ants  of  those  regions,  whether  they  depend  upon 
their  plows  or  their  herds,  cannot  be  slaveholders. 
Involuntary  labor,  requiring  the  investment  of 
large  capital,  can  only  be  profitable  when  em 
ployed  in  the  production  of  a  few  favored  articles 
confined  by  nature  to  special  districts,  and  paying 
larger  returns  than  the  usual  agricultural  products 
spread  over  more  considerable  portions  of  the 
earth. 

In  the  able  letter  of  Mr.  Buchanan  upon  this 
subject,  not  long  since  given  to  the  public,  he 
presents  similar  considerations  with  great  force. 
"  Neither,"  says  the  distinguished  writer,  "  the 
soil,  the  climate,  nor  the  productions  of  California 
south  of  36°  3(V,  nor  indeed  of  any  portion  of  it, 
North  or  South,  is  adapted  to  Slave  labor;  and 
beside  every  facility  would  be  there  afforded  for 
the  slave  to  escape  from  his  master.  Such  pro 
perty  would  be  entirely  insecure  in  any  part  of 
California.  It  is  morally  impossible,  therefore, 
that  a  majority  of  the  emigrants  to  that  portion 
of_the  territory  south  of  36°  30 /,  which  will  be 
chiefly  composed  of  our  citizens,  will  ever  re 
establish  Slavery  within  its  limits. 

"  In  regard  to  New-Mexico,  east  of  the  Rio 
Grande,  the  question  has  already  been  settled  by 
the  admission  of  Texas  into  the  Union. 

"  Should  we  acquire  territory  beyond  the  Ilio 
Grande  and  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  it  is 
still  more  impossible  that  a  majority  of  the  people 
would  consent  to  re-estallisti  Slavery.  They  are 
themselves  a  colored  population,  and  among  them 
the  negro  does  not  belong  socially  to  a  degraded 
race." 

With  this  last  remark,  Mr.  Walker  fully  coin 
cides  in  his  letter  written  in  1844,  upon  the  annex 
ation  of  Texas,  and  which  everywhere  produced 
so  favorable  an  impression  upon  the  public  mind, 
as  to  have  conduced  very  materially  to  the  ac 
complishment  of  that  great  measure.  "  Beyond 
the  Del  Norte,"  says  Mr.  Walker,  "  Slavery  will 
not  pass  ;  not  only  because  it  is  forbidden  by  law. 
but  because  the  colored  race  there  preponderates 
in  the  ratio  of  ten  to  one  over  the  whites ;  and 
holding,  as  they  do,  the  government  and  most  of 
the  offices  in  their  possession,  they  will  not.  permit 
the  enslavement  of  any  portion  of  the  colored 
race,  which  makes  and  executes  the  laws  of  the 
country." 

The  question,  it  will  be  therefore  seen  on  ex 
amination,  does  not  regard  the  exclusion  of  Slav 
ery  from  a  region  where  it  now  exists,  but  a  pro 
hibition  against  its  introduction  where  it  does  not 
exist,  and  where,  from  the  feelings  of  the  inhabit 
ants  and  the  laws  of  nature,  ''  it  is  morally  im 
possible."  as  Mr.  Buchanan  says,  that  it  can 
ever  re-establish  itself. 

It  augurs  well  for  the  permanence  of  our  con 
federation,  that  during  more  than  half  a  century, 
which  has  elapsed  since  the  establishment  of  this 
Government,  many  serious  questions,  and  some 
of  the  highest  importance,  have  agitated  the  pub 
lic  mind,  and  more  than  once  threatened  the 
gravest  consequences ;  but  that  they  have  all  in 
succession  passed  away,  leaving  our  institutions 
unscathed,  and  our  country  advancing  in  num 
bers,  power,  and  wealth,  and  in  all  the  other  ele 
ments  of  national  prosperity,  with  a  rapidity  un 
known  in  ancient  or  in  modern  days.  In  times 
of  political  excitement,  when  difficult,  aud  delicate 
questions  present  themselves  for  solution,  there  is 
one  ark  of  safety  for  us ;  and  that  is,  an  honest 
appeal  to  the  fundamental  principles  of  our  Union, 
and  a  stern  determination  to  abide  their  dictates. 


50 


THE   STRUGGLE   FOR   SLAVERY   RESTRICTION. 


This  course  of  proceeding  has  carried  us  in  safety  I 
through  many  a  trouble,  and  I  trust  will  carry  us 
safely  through  many  more,  should  many  more  be 
destined  to  assail  us.  The  Wilmot  Proviso  seeks 
to  take  from  its  legitimate  tribunal  a  question  of 
domestic  policy,  having  no  relation  to  the  Union, 
as  such,  and  to  transfer  it  to  another,  created  by 
the  people  for  a  special  purpose,  and  foreign  to 
the  subject  matter  involved  in  this  issue.  By 
going  back  to  our  true  principles,  we  go  back  to 
the  road  of  peace  and  safety.  Leave  to  the  peo 
ple,  who  will  be  affected  by  this  question,  to  ad 
just  it  upon  their  own  responsibility,  and  in  their 
own  manner,  and  we  shall  render  another  tribute 
to  the  original  principles  of  our  Government,  and 
furnish  another  guaranty  for  its  permanence  and 
prosperity.  I  am,  dear  sir,  respectfully,  your 
obedient  servant,  LEWIS  CASS. 

A.  0.  P.  Niciioi-sou,  Esq.,  Nashville,  Tenn. 


The  next  session  of  the  same  Congress 
opened  under  very  different  auspices.  The 
Mexican  War  had  been  terminated,  so  that 
none  could  longer  be  deterred  from  voting 
for  Slavery  Exclusion  by  a  fear  that  the 
prosecution  of  hostilities  would  thereby  be 
embarrassed.  General  Taylor  had  been 
elected  President,  receiving  the  votes  of  De 
laware,  Maryland,  North  Carolina,  Georgia, 
Kentucky,  Tennessee,  Louisiana,  and  Florida 
— a  moiety  of  the  Slave  States — over  Gen. 
Cass,  now  the  avowed  opponent  of  Slavery 
Restriction.  Many  of  the  Northern  Demo 
crats  considered  themselves  absolved  by  this 
vote  from  all  extra-constitutional  obligations 
to  the  South,  and  voted  accordingly. 

Dec.  13.— Mr.  J.  M.  Root  of  Ohio,  offered 
Lhe  following  : 

"  Resolved,  That  the  Committee  on  Territories 
be  instructed  to  report  to  this  House,  with  as  little 
delay  as  practicable,  a  bill  or  bills  providing  a 
territorial  government  for  each  of  the  Territories 
of  New  Mexico  and  California,  and  excluding 
Slavery  therefrom." 

A  call  of  the  House  was  had,  and  the  pre 
vious  question  ordered. 

Mr.  W.  P.  Hall  of  Mo.  moved  that  the 
same  do  lie  on  the  table.  Lost :  Yeas,  80  ; 
Nays,  106. 

The  resolve  then  passed  :  Yeas,  108 ; 
Nays,  80,  viz.  : 

Yeas — All  the  Whigs  from  Free  States,  and  all 
the  Democrats,  but  those  noted  as  Nays  below, 
including  the  following,  who  had  voted  against 
the  same  principle  at  the  former  session  : 

MAINE.— Asa  W.  H.  Clapp,  James  S.Wiley— 2. 

NEW  YORK.— Frederick  W.  Lord— 1. 

OHIO. — Thomas  Ilichey — 1. 

INDIANA. — Charles  W  Cathcart,  Thomas  J. 
Henley,  John  L.  Robinson,  William  W.  Wick— 4. 

ILLINOIS. — Robert  Smith — 1. 

Messrs.  Clark  and  H.  Williams  of  Maine,  Bird- 
sail  and  Maclay  of  New- York,  Brodhead  and 
Mann  of  Pa.,  Pettit  of  Ind.,  Ficklin  and  McClel 
land  of  111.,  who  voted  with  the  South  at  the  for 
mer  session — now  failed  to  vote. 

Mr.  Jackson  of  N.Y.,  who  then  voted  with  the 
South,  had  been  succeeded  by  Mr.  H.  Greeley, 
who  voted  with  the  North. 

Nays— All  the  Members  voting  from  the  Slave 
States,  with  the  following  from  the  Free  States  : 

NEW-YORK.— Henry  C.  Murphy— 1. 


PENNSYLVANIA — Charles  Brown,  Charles  J.  In- 
gerpoll — 2. 

OHIO  — William  Kennon,  jun.,  John  K  .  Miller, 
William  Sawyer — 3. 

ILLINOIS. — William  A.  Richardson — 1. 

IOWA. — Shepherd  Leffler — 1. 

Total  Nays  from  Free  States— 8. 

Mr.  Robinson  of  Ind.  moved  a  reconsidera 
tion  of  this  vote,  which  motion  (Dec.  18), 
on  motion  of  Mr.  Wentworth  of  111.,  was 
laid  on  the  table  :  Yeas,  105  ;  Nays,  83. 

[Messrs.  Clapp,  Clark,  and  Wiley  of  Me., 
voted  to  lay  on  the  table,  as  did  Messrs. 
Lord  of  N.  Y.,  Job  Mann  of  Pa.,  Richey 
of  Ohio,  Henley  and  Wick  of  Indiana,  R. 
Smith  of  111.  Messrs.  C.  Brown  and  Levin 
of  Pa.  did  not  now  vote.  The  rest,  very 
much  as  before,  except  that  a  few  more 
voted.] 

Dec.  20th.— Mr.  C.  B.  Smith  accordingly 
reported  a  bill,  establishing  the  Territorial 
Government  of  Upper  California,  which  was 
read  twice  and  committed. 

Jan.  3rd. — He  reported  a  similar  bill  for 
the  organization  of  New  Mexico,  which  took 
the  same  direction. 

Jan.  1.5th. — Mr.  Julius  Rockwell  of  Mass, 
moved  that  these  bills  be  made  the  special 
order  for  the  23d  instant.  Negatived  :  Yeas, 
114  (not  two-thirds) ;  Nays,  71  (nearly  a 
sectional  vote). 

Feb.  26-7 £/i.— The  bill  was  taken  out  of 
committee,  and  engrossed  for  a  third  reading. 

Mr.  Meade  of  Ya.  moved  that  it  do  lie  on 
the  table.  Negatived  :  Yeas,  86  ;  Nays, 
127. 

It  was  then  passed  by  the  following  similar 
vote  : 

Yeas— All  the  Whigs  from  the  Free 
States,  with  Aylett  Buckner  (Whig)  of  Ky., 
and  all  the  Democrats  also,  except 

PENNSYLVANIA. — Samuel  A.  Bridges — 1. 
OHIO. — William  Kennon,  jun.,  John  K.  Miller, 
William  Sawyer— 3. 
Total— 4. 

Nays— All  the  Members  from  Slave 
States,  except  Mr.  Buckner  aforesaid,  with 
the  addition  of  those  from  Free  States  just 
mentioned. 

This  bill  was  read  twice  in  the  Senate, 
(Feb.  28th),  and  referred  to  the  Committee 
on  Territories. 

March  3d. — Said  Committee  was  discharg 
ed  from  its  further  consideration,  and  Mr. 
Douglas  moved  that  it  be  taken  up  in  Senate, 
which  was  negatived.  Yeas,  25  ;  Nays,  28 
(all  but  a  sectional  vote).  That  was  the 
end  of  the  bill ;  the  Senate  having  already 
determined  to  affix  its  essential  provisions  to 
the  Civil  and  Diplomatic  Appropriation  bill, 
and  thus  avoid  and  defeat  the  Slavery  Exclu 
sion  contained  in  the  House  bill,  and  force 
the  House  to  agree  to  organize  the  Terri 
tories,  without  such  provision,  or  leave  the 
Government  without  appropriations.  How 
this  succeeded,  we  shall  see. 


THE  WILMOT  PROVISO. 


61 


The  Civil  and  Diplomatic  Appropriation 
bill  having1  passed  the  House  in  the  usual 
form,  came  up  to  the  Senate,  where  it  was  de 
bated  several  days. 

'  Feb.  2lst.— Mr.  Walker  of  Wise,  moved 
an  amendment,  extending  all  the  laws  of  the 
United  States,  so  far  as  applicable,  to,  the 
Territories  acquired  from  Mexico. 

Mr.  Bell  of  Tenn.  moved  to  add  further 
sections  organizing  the  State  of  California, 
to  be  admitted  into  the  Union  on  the  1st  of 
October  next.  This  was  rejected  :  Yeas  4 
(Bell,  Dodge  of  Iowa,  Douglas,  Davis)  ; 
Nays  39. 

Feb.  26th. — Mr.  Dayton  of  N.  J.  moved 
that  the  President  be  vested  with  power  to 
provide  a  suitable  temporary  government  for 
the  Territories.  Rejected  ;  Yeas  8  ;  Nays 
47. 

The  question  recurred  on  Mr.  Walker's 
amendment,  modified  so  as  to  read  as  fol 
lows  : 

"Sec.  5.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States,  in  so  fur  as  the 
provisions  of  the  same  be  applicable  to  the  con 
dition  of  a  Territory  of  the  United  States,  and  all 
and  singular  the  several  acts  of  Congress  respect 
ing  the  registering,  recording,  enrolling,  or  licens 
ing  ships,  or  vessels,  and  the  entry  and  clearance 
thereof,  and  the  foreign  and  coasting  trade  and 
fisheries,  and  all  the  acts  respecting  the  imposing 
and  collecting  the  duties  on  imports,  and  all  the 
acts  respecting  trade  and  intercourse  with  the 
Indian  tribes,  and  all  the  acts  respecting  the  pub 
lic  lands,  or  the  survey  or  sale  thereof,  and  all  and 
singular  the  other  acts  of  Congress  of  a  public  and 
general  character,  and  the  provisions  whereof  are 
suitable  and  proper  to  be  applied  to  the  territory 
West  of  the  Rio  del  Norte,  acquired  from  Mexico 
by  the  treaty  of  the  second  day  of  February, 
18-18,  be,  and  the  same  are  hereby,  extended 
over,  and  given  full  force  and  efficiency  in 
all  said  territory;  and  the  President  of  the 
United  States  is  hereby  authorized  to  prescribe 
and  establish  all  proper  and  needful  rules  and  re 
gulations  (iru conformity  with  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States)  for  the  enforcement  of  the  pro 
visions  of  the  Constitution  hereinbefore  referred 
to,  of  said  laws  in  said  territory,  and  for  the  pre 
servation  of  order  and  tranquillity,  and  the  es 
tablishment  of  justice  therein,  and  from  time 
to  time  to  modify  or  change  the  said  rules  and 
regulations  in  such  manner  as  may  seem  to  him 
discreet,  and  proper  ;  and  to  establish,  temporarily, 
such  divisions,  districts,  ports,  offices,  and  all  ar 
rangements  proper  for  the  execution  of  said  laws, 
and  appoint  and  commission  such  officers  as  may 
be  necessary  to  administer  such  laws  in  said  ter 
ritory,  for  such  term  or  terms  as  he  may  prescribe, 
whose  authority  shall  continue  until  otherwise 
provided  by  Congress;  said  officers  to  receive 
such  compensation  as  the  President  may  prescribe, 
not  exceeding  double  the  compensation  heretofore 
paid  to  similar  officers  of  the  United  States  or  its 
territories,  for  like  services ;  and  to  enable  the 
same  to  be  done,  the  sum  of  two  hundred  thousand 
dollars  be  appropriated,  out  of  any  money  in  the 
treasury  not  otherwise  appropriated." 

YEAS— For  Mr.  Walker's  proposition  : 
Messrs.  Atchison,  Houston, 

Bell,  Hunter, 

Berrien,  Johnson  of  La. 

Borland,  Johnson  of  Ga. 

Butler, 


Davis  of  Miss. 

Dickinson, 

Dodge,  Iowa, 

Douglas, 

Downs, 

Fitzgerald, 

Fitzpatrick, 

Foote,  Miss. 

Hannegau, 

Yulee—  29. 


Mangum, 

Mason, 

Rusk, 

Sebastian, 

Sturgeon, 

Turner, 

Underwood, 

Walker, 

Westcott, 


NAYS — Against  Mr.  Walker's  proposition. 
Messrs.  Allen, 

At  her  ton, 

Badger, 

Baldwin, 

Bradbury, 

Bright, 

Cameron, 

Clarke, 

Cor  win, 

Duvis  of  Mass. 

Dayton, 

Dix, 


Dodge,  Wise. 

Webster— 27. 


Feleh, 

Greene, 

Hale, 

Hamlin, 

Johnson,  Md. 

Jones, 

Miller, 

Nike, 

Pearoe, 

Phelps, 

Spruance, 

IJphain, 

Wales, 


The  bill  being  returned  to  the  House,  thus 
amended,  this  amendment  was  (March  2d) 
voted  down — Yeas  101  ;  Nays  115 — as  fol 
lows  : 

Yeas,  all  the  members  from  the  Slave 
States,  with  the  following  from  the  Free 
States,  viz. : 

MAINK— Hezekiah  Williams— 1. 

NEW  YORK— Ausburn  Birdsall — 1. 

PENNSYLVANIA — Samuel  A.  Bridges,  Richard 
Brodhead,  Charles  Brown,  Charles  J.  Ingersoll, 
Lewis  C.  Levin — 5. 

OHIO — William  Kennon,  jr.,  William  Sawyer 

ILLINOIS— Orlando  B.   Ficklin,  John  A.  Mc- 
Clermmd,  William  A.  Richardson — 3. 
IOWA — Shepherd  LefHer — 1. 

Total,  thirteen  from  Free  States  ;  eighty- 
eight  from  Slave  States.  (Only  two  from 
Slave  States  absent  or  silent.) 

Nays,  all  the  Whigs  from  Free  States, 
and  all  the  Democrats  from  Free  States,  ex 
cept  those  named  above. 

So  the  House  refused  to  concur  in  this 
amendment,  and  the  bill  was  returned  to  the 
Senate  accordingly. 

The  Senate  resolved  to  insist  on  its 
amendment,  and  ask  a  conference,  which  was 
granted,  but  resulted  in  nothing.  Messrs. 
Atherton  of  N.  H.,  Dickinson  of  N.  Y., 
and  Berrien  of  Ga.,  were  managers  on  the 
part  of  the  Senate,  and  insisted  on  its 
amendment,  organizing  the  Territories  with 
out  restriction  as  to  Slavery.  Messrs.  Yin- 
ton  of  Ohio,  Nicoll  of  N.  Y.,  and  Morehead 
of  Ky.,  were  appointed  on  the  part  of  the 
House.  These,  after  a  long  sitting,  report 
ed  their  inability  to  agree,  and  were  dis 
charged. 

The  bill  being  now  returned  to  the  House, 
Mr.  McClernand  of  111.  moved  that  the 
House  do  recede  from  its  disagreement ;  Car 
ried  :  Yeas  111 ;  Nays  106. 

Mr.  Morehead  of  Ky.  moved  to  amend 
so  as  to  provide  that  nothing  in  this  section 


52 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  SLAVERY  RESTRICTION. 


shall  affect  the  question,  as  to  the  boundary 
of  Texas.  Carried:  Yeas  187;  Nays 
19. 

Mr.  K.  W.  Thompson  of  Ind.  moved  that 
the  House  concur  with  the  Senate,  with  an 
amendment,  which  was  a  substitute,  extend 
ing  the  laws  of  the  United  States  over  said 
Territories,  but  leaving  them  unorganized, 
as  follows : 

"That  the  President  of  the  United  States  be, 
and  he  hereby  is,  authorized  to  hold  possession  of 
and  occupy  the  Territories  ceded  by  Mexico  to 
the  United  States,  by  the  treaty  of  the  2nd  of  Feb., 
eighteen  hundred  and  forty-eight,  and  that  he  be, 
and  hereby  is,  authorized  for  that  purpose,  and  in 
order  to  maintain  the  authority  of  the  United 
States,  and  preserve  peace  and  order  in  said  Ter- 
tory,  to  employ  such  parts  of  the  army  and  navy 
of  the  United  States  as  he  may  deem  necessary, 
and  that  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  so 
far  as  the  same  is  applicable,  be  extended  over 
said  Territories. 

"  Sec.  2nd.  And  le  it  further  enacted,  That, 
until  the  fourth  day  of  July,  eighteen  hundred 
and  fifty,  unless  Congress  shall  sooner  provide 
for  (he  government  of  said  Territories,  the  exist 
ing  laws  thereof  shall  be  retained  and,  observed, 
and  that  the  civil  and  judicial  authority  hereto 
fore  exercised  in  said  Territories  shall  be  vested 
in,  and  exercised  by,  such  person  or  persons  as 
the  President  of  the  United  States  shall  appoint 
and  direct,  to  the  end  that  the  inhabitants  of  said 
Territories  may  be  protected  in  the  full  and  free 
enjoyment  of  their  liberty,  property,  and  religion : 
provided,  nevertheless,  that  martial  law  shall  not 
be  proclaimed  or  declared  in  said  Territories,  or 
either  of  them,  nor  any  military  court  established 
or  instituted,  except  ordinary  courts-martial  for 
the  trial  of  persons  belonging  to  the  army  and 
navy  of  the  United  States  ;  and  the  imprisonment 
of  any  citizen  of  said  Territories  for  tiebt  is  here 
by  forbidden. 

""  Sec.  3.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That,  to 
enable  the  President  to  carry  into  execution  the 
provisions  of  this  act,  the  sum  of  two  hundred 
thousand  dollars  is  hereby  appropriated  out  of 
any  money  in  the  Treasury  not  otherwise  appro 
priated." 

The  question  being  reached  on  amending 
the  Senate's  proposition  as  proposed  by  Mr. 
Thompson,  it  was  carried :  Yeas  111 ;  Nays 
105. 

[All  the  Southern  Members  in  the  nega 
tive,  with  Levin  and  a  few  of  the  Northern 
Democrats  ;  the  residue  with  all  the  North 
ern  Whigs  in  the  affirmative.] 

The  House  now  proceeded  to  agree  to  the 
Senate's  amendment,  as  amended;  Yeas 
110  ;  Nays  103,  [the  same  as  before ;  the 
friends  of  the  Senate's  proposition  voting 
against  it,  as  amended,  and  vice  versa,  on 
the  understanding  that  Mr.  Thompson's 
amendment  would  exclude  Slavery.] 

The  bill  as  thus  amended  being  returned 
to  the  Senate,  it  refused  to  agree  to  the 
House's  amendment,  and  receded  from  its 
own  proposition  ;  so  the  bill  was  passed  and 
the  session  closed,  with  no  provision  for 
the  government  of  the  newly-acquired  Ter 
ritories. 


XII. 

OREGON. 

Aug.  6,  1846. — Mr.  Douglas,  from  the 
Committee  on  Territories,  reported  to  the 
House  a  bill  organizing  the  Territory  of 
Oregon. 

Said  bill  was  discussed  in  Committee  of 
the  Whole,  and  the  following  amendment 
agreed  to  : 

"  And  neither  Slavery,  nor  involuntary  servi 
tude  shall  ever  exist  in  said  Territory,  except  for 
crime  whereof  the  party  shall  have  been  duly 
convicted." 

On  coming  out  of  Committee,  this  amend 
ment  was  agreed  to — Yeas  108 ;  Nays  44. 
[The  Nays  are  all  Southern,  but  Charles  J. 
Ingersoll,  Orlando  B.  Ficklin,  and  possibly 
one  or  two  others ;  and  all  Democrats,  but 
some  half  a  dozen  from  the  South,  of  Avhom 
Robert  Toombshas  since  turned  Democrat.] 
Stephen  A.  Douglas  did  not  vote.  The  bill 
passed  the  House  without  further  opposition, 
was  read  twice  in  the  Senate,  and  referred  ; 
and  Mr.  Westcott  of  Florida  made  a  report 
thereon  from  the  Committee  on  Territories ; 
but  the  Session  closed  without  further  action 
on  the  bill. 

This  Congress  reassembled,  Dec.  7th, 
1846.  On  the  23d,  Mr.  Douglas  again  re 
ported  his  bill  to  provide  a  territorial  gov 
ernment  for  Oregon,  which  was  read  twice 
and  committed  :  Jan.  llth,  1847,  was  dis 
cussed  in  Committee,  as  also  on  the  12th 
and  14th,  when  it  was  resolved  to  close  the 
debate.  On  the  15th,  it  was  taken  out  of 
Committee,  when  Gen.  Burt  of  S.  C.  moved 
the  following  addition  (already  moved,  de 
bated,  and  voted  down  in  Committee)  to 
the  clause  forbidding  Slavery  in  said  Terri 
tory  : 

"  Inasmuch  as  the  whole  of  said  Territory  lies 
north  of  thirty  six  degrees  thirty  minutes  north 
latitude,  known  as  the  line  of  the  Missouri  Com 
promise." 

The  purpose  of  this  is  clear  enough.  It 
was  intended  to  recognize  the  Missouri  line, 
not  as  limited  to  the  territories  possessed 
by  the  United  States  at  the  time  said  line 
was  established,  but^  as  extending  to  all 
that  had  since  been,  or  hereafter  should  be, 
acquired,  so  as  to  legalize  Slavery  in  any 
territory  henceforth  to  be  acquired  by  us 
south  of  36°  30'. 

Mr.  Burt's  amendment  was  negatived — 
Yeas  82  ;  Nays  114. 

The  vote  was  very  nearly  sectional ;  but 
the  following  Members  from  Free  States 
voted  in  the  minority  : 

PENNSYLVANIA. — Charles  J.  Ingersoll — 1. 
ILLINOIS — Stephen  A.  Douglas,  Kobt.  Smith — 2. 
IOWA. — S.  C.  Hastings — 1. 
In  all,  5. 

No  Member  from  a  Slave  State  voted  in 


OREGON. 


53 


the  majority.     The  bill  then  passed— Yeas 
134;   Nays  35  (all  Southern). 

Jan.  15th.— The  bill  reached  the  Senate 
and  was  sent  to  the  Judiciary  Committee 
consisting  of 

Messrs.  Ashley,  Ark.  Berrien,  Ga. 

Breese,  111.  Dayton,  N.  J. 

Westcott,  Fla. 

Jan.  25. — Mr.  Ashley  reported  the  Oregon 
bill  with  amendments,  which  were  ordered  to 
be  printed. 

29£/t.— Said  bill,  on  motion  of  Mr.  West 
cott,  was  recommitted  to  the  Judiciary  Com 
mittee. 

Feb.  IQth — Mr.  Ashley  again  reported  it 
with  amendments. 

March  3d. — It  was  taken  up  as  in  Com 
mittee  of  the  Whole,  when  Mr.  Evans  of 
Me.  moved  that  it  be  laid  on  the  table. 
Defeated— Yeas  19,  (all  Whigs  but  Cal- 
houn  of  S.  C.,  and  Yulee  of  Florida) ;  Nays 
26  ;  (24  Dem.,  with  Corwiu  of  Ohio,  and 
Johnson  of  La.). 

Mr.  Westcott  of  Fla.  immediately  moved 
that  the  bill  do  lie  on  the  table,  which  pre 
vailed—Yeas  26  ;  Nays  18,  (a  mixed  vote, 
evidently  governed  by  various  motives) ;  but 
the  negatives  were  all  Democrats,  but  Cor- 
win  and  Johnson  aforesaid.  This  being  the 
last  day  of  the  session,  it  was  evident  that 
the  bill,  if  opposed,  as  it  was  certain  to  be, 
could  not  get  through,  and  it  was,  doubtless, 
in  behalf  of  other  pressing  business  that  many 
Senators  voted  to  lay  this  aside.  It  was,  of 
course,  dead  for  the  session. 


Dec.  6th,  1847.— The  XXXth  Congress  as 
sembled  ;  Eobert  C.  Wiuthrop  (Whig)  of 
Mass,  was  chosen  Speaker  of  the  House. 
President  Polk,  in  his  Annual  Message,  re 
gretted  that  Oregon  had  not  already  been 
organized,  and  urged  the  necessity  of  action 
on  the  subject. 

Feb.  9th.— Mr.  Caleb  B.  Smith  of  Indiana 
reported  to  the  House  a  bill  to  establish  the 
territorial  government  of  Oregon  ;  which,  by 
a  vote  of  two-thirds,  was  made  a  special  or 
der  for  March  14th.  It  was  postponed, 
however,  to  the  28th  ;  when  it  was  taken  up 
and  discussed,  as  on  one  or  two  subsequent 
days.  May  29th,  it  was  again  made  a  spe 
cial  order  next  after  the  Appropriation  bills. 
The  President  that  day  sent  a  special  mes 
sage,  urging  action  on  this  subject.  July 
25th,  it  was  taken  up  in  earnest  ;  Mr. 
Wentworth  of  Illinois  moving  that  debate 
on  it  in  Committee  cease  at  two  o'clock 
this  day. 

Mr.  Geo.  S.  Houston  of  Ala.  endeav 
ored  to  put  this  motion  on  the  table.  De 
feated—Yeas  85  ;  Nays  89,  (nearly,  but 
not  fully,  a  sectional  division).  Mr.  Geo. 
W.  Jones  of  Tenn.  moved  a  reconsidera 
tion,  which  was  carried — Yeas  100  ;  Nays 
88  ;  and  the  resolution  laid  on  the  table — 
Yeas  96 ;  Nays  90. 


The  bill  continued  to  be  discussed,  and 
finally  (Aug.  1st)  was  got  out  of  Committee  ; 
when  Mr.  C.  B.  Smith  moved  the  Previous 
Question  thereon,  which  was  ordered. 

August  2d. — The  House  came  to  a  vote 
on  an  amendment  made  in  Committee,  where 
by  the  following  provision  of  the  original 
bill  was  stricken  out : 

"  That  the  inhabitants  of  said  Territory  shall 
be  entitled  to  enjoy,  all  and  singular,  the  rights, 
privileges,  and  advantages  granted  and  secured 
to  the  people  of  the  Territory  of  the  United  States 
northwest  of  the  river  Ohio,  by  the  articles  of 
compact  contained  in  the  ordinance  for  the  gov 
ernment  of  said  Territory,  passed  the  13th  day 
of  July,  seventeen  hundred  and  eighty-seven; 
and  shall  be  subject  to  all  the  conditions,  and  re 
strictions,  and  prohibitions  in  said  articles  of  com 
pact  imposed  upon  the  people  of  said  territory 
and — " 

The  House  refused  to  agree  to  this  amend 
ment — Yeas  88  ;  Nays  114. 

The  Members  from  the  Free  States  who 
voted  with  the  South  to  strike  out,  were— 

NEW- YORK— Ausburn  Birdsall— 1. 

OHIO— William  Keunon,  jr.,  John  K.  Mil 
ler— a. 

ILLINOIS — Orlando  B.  Ficklin,  John  A.  Mc- 
Clernand,  William  A.  Richardson — 3. 

INDIANA— John  L.  Robinson,  William  W. 
Wick— a. 

Mr.  John  W.  Houston  of  Delaware  voted  in 
the  majority. 

The  bill  was  then  passed :  Yeas  128  : 
Nays  71. 

[This  vote  was  almost  completely  section 
al.  Mr.  Houston  of  Delaware  voting  in 
the  majority  as  before:  otherwise,  Mem- 
aers  from  Free  States  in  the  affirmative  ; 
those  from  Slave  States  in  the  negative.] 

Aug.  3rd. — This  bill  reached  the  Senate, 
when  Mr.  Badger  of  N.  C.  moved  its  inde- 
inite  postponement :  negatived,  47  to  1, 
(Yulee).  It  was  then  sent  to  the  Committee 
on  Territories. 

The  Senate  had  had  under  consideration, 
'rom  time  to  time  through  the  Session,  a  bill 
of  its  own,  reported  by  Mr.  Douglas,  which 
was  finally  referred  to  a  Select  Committee — 
Vlr.  Clayton  of  Delaware,  Chairman— and 
>y  said  committee  reported  some  days  before 
he  reception  of  the  House  bill.  It  was 
hen  dropped. 

Aug.  5th. — Mr.  Douglas  reported  the 
House  Bill,  with  amendments,  which  were 
printed. 

Aug.  IQth. — After  some  days'  debate,  the 
Senate  proceeded  to  vote.  Mr.  Foote  of 
Miss,  moved  that  the  bill  do  lie  on  the 
able.  Defeated  :  Yeas  15  (Southern)  ; 
Vays  36. 

On  the  question  of  agreeing  to  this 
mendment : 

"Inasmuch  as  the  said  Territory  is  north  of 
lirty-six  deg.  thirty  min.,  usually  known  as  the 
ine  of  the]  Missouri  Compromise." 

It  was  rejected  :  Yeas  2  (Bright  and 
)ougks) ;  Nays  52. 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  SLAVERY  RESTRICTION. 


54 

Mr.  Douglas  moved  to  amend  the  bill,  by 
inserting  after  the  word  "  enacted  "  : 

"  That  the  line  of  thirty-six  degrees  and  thirty 
minutes  of  north  latitude,  known  as  the  Missouri 
Compromise  line,  as  defined  in  the  eighth  section 
of  an  act  entitled,  '  An  Act  to  authorize  the  peo 
ple  of  the  Missouri  Territory  to  form  a  Constitu 
tional  and  State  Government,  and  for  the  admis 
sion  of  such  Stale  into  the  Union,  on  an  equal 
footing  with  the  original  States,  and  to  prohibit 
Slavery  in  certain  Territories,  approved  March 
6th,  1820,'  be.  and  the  same  is  hereby,  declared  to 
extend  to  the  Pacific  Ocean  ;  and  the  said  eighth 
section,  together  with  the  compromise  therein 
effected,  is  hereby  revived,  and  declared  to  be  in 
full  force  and  binding,  for  the  future  organiza 
tion  of  the  Territories  of  the  United  States  in  the 
same  sense,  and  with  the  same  understanding 
with  which  it  was  originally  adopted;  and — " 

Which    was    carried— Yeas  33  ;  Nays  21 
— as  follows : 


YEAS  —  For  recognizing 
as  rightfully  extending 

Messrs.  Atchison, 
Badger, 


Benton, 

Berrien, 

Borland, 

Bright, 

Butler, 

Calhoun, 

Cameron, 

Davis  of  Miss., 

Dickinson, 

Douglas, 

Downs, 

Fitzgerald, 

Foote  of  Miss., 

Underwood 


the  Missouri  line 
to  the  Pacific : 

Hannegan, 
Houston, 
Hunter, 

Johnson  of  Md., 
Johnson  of  La., 
Johnson  of  Ga., 
King, 
Lewis, 
Mangum, 
Mason, 
Metcalf, 
Pearce, 
Sebastian, 
Spruance, 
Sturgeon, 
Turney, 
—33. 


NAYS — Against  recognizing  said  line: 

Messrs.  Allen,  Dodge, 

Athertpn,  Felch, 

Baldwin,  Greene, 

Bradbury,  Hale, 

Breese,  Hamlin, 

Clarke,  Miller, 

Corwin,  Niles, 

Davis  of  Mass.,  Phelps, 

Dayton,  Upham, 

Walker, 
Webster— 21. 


Dix, 


The  bill  was  then  engrossed  for  a  third 
reading  :  Yeas  33 ;  Nays  22  (nearly  same 
as  the  above — Westcott  of  Florida,  added 
to  the  Nays — and  thus  passed). 

Aug.  11th. — The  bill,  thus  amended,  having 
been  returned  to  the  House,  the  amendment 
of  Mr.  Douglas,  just  recited,  was  rejected  : 
Yeas  82  ;  Nays  121. 

Yeas  from  Free  States  : 

NEWYOIIK — Ausburn  Birdsall — 1. 

PENNSYLVANIA — Charles  Brown,  Charles  J. 
Ingersoll. — 2. 

Total— 3. 

Otherwise,  from  Slave  States,  all  Yeas  ; 
from  Free  States,  all  Nays. 

Aug.  12//t. — The  Senate,  after  voting 
down  various  propositions  to  lay  on  the 
table,  etc.,  finally  decided  to  recede  from  its 
amendments  to  the  Oregon  bill,  and  pass  it 


as  it  came  from  the  House :  Yeas  29  ;  Nays 
25,  as  follows  : 

YEAS— For  Receding: 

Messrs.  Allen,  Douglas, 

Baldwin,  Felch, 

Benton,  Fitzgerald, 

Bradbury,  Greene, 

Breese,  Hale, 

Bright,  Hamlin, 

Cameron,  Hannegan, 

Clarke,  Houston, 

Corwin,  Miller, 

Davis  of  Mass.,  Niles, 

Dayton,  Phelps, 

Dickinson,  Spruance, 

Dix,  Upham, 

Dodge,  Walker, 
Webster— 29. 

NA  YS— Against  Receding  : 

Messrs .  Atchison ,  J  oh  nso  n  of  L  a. , 

Badger,  Johnson  of  Ga., 

Bell,  Lewis, 

Berrien,  Mangum, 

Borland,  Mason, 

Butler,  Metcalf, 

Calhoun,  Pearce, 

Davis  of  Miss.,  Rusk, 

Downs,  Sebastian, 

Foote,  Turney, 

Hunter,  Underwood, 

Johnson  of  Md.,  Westcott, 

Yulee— 25. 
(All  from  Slave  States.) 

So  the  bill  became  a  law,  and  Oregon  a 
Territory,  under  the  original  Jefferson  or 
Dane  Proviso  against  Slavery. 

XIII. 

THE    COMPROMISE    OF    1850. 

THE  XXXIst  Congress  commenced  its 
first  Session  at  Washington,  Dec.  3d,  1849  ; 
but  the  House  was  unable  to  organize — no 
person  receiving  a  majority  of  all  the  votes 
for  Speaker — until  the  22nd,  when,  the  Plu 
rality  rule  having  been  adopted  by  a  vote 
of  113  to  106,  Mr.  Howell  Cobb  of  Ga.  was 
elected,  having  102  votes  to  100  for  Robert 
C.  Winthrop  of  Mass.,  and  20  scattering. 
It  was  thereupon  resolved  —  Yeas  149; 
Nays  35— "  That  Howell  Cobb  be  declared 
duly  elected  Speaker;"  and  on  the  24th 
President  Zachary  Taylor  transmitted  to 
both  Houses  his  first  Annual  Message,  in 
the  course  of  which  Jhe  says  : 

"  No  civil  government  having  been  provided 
by  Congress  for  California,  the  people  of  that 
Territory,  impelled  by  the  necessities  of  their 
political  condition,  recently  met  in  Convention, 
tor  the  purpose  of  forming  a  Constitution  and 
State  Government ;  which,  the  latest  advices  give 
me  reason  to  suppose,  has  been  accomplished  ; 
and  it  is  believed  they  will  shortly  apply  for  the 
admission  of  California  into  the  Union,  as  a 
Sovereign  State.  Should  such  be  the  case,  and 
should  their  constitution  be  conformable  to  the 
requisitions  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States,  I  recommend  their  application  to  the  fa 
vorable  consideration  of  Congress. 

"  The  people  of  New-Mexico  will  also,  it  is 
believed,  at  no  very  distant  period,  present  them 
selves  for  admission  into  the  Union.  Preparatory 
to  the  admission  of  California  and  New-Mexico, 


THE  COMPROMISE  OF   1850. 


55 


the  people  of  each  will  have  instituted  for  them 
selves  a  republican  form  of  government,  laying 
its  foundation  in  such  principles,  and  organizing 
its  power  in  such  form,  as  to  them  shall  seem 
most  likely  to  effect  their  safety  and  happiness. 
"  By  awaiting  their  action,  all  causes  of  un 
easiness  may  be  avoided  and  confidence  and 
kind  feeling  pi-eserved.  With  a  view  of  main 
taining  the  harmony  and  tranquillity  so  dear  tc 
all,  we  should  abstain  from  the  introduction  of 
those  exciting  topics  of  a  sectional  character 
which  have  hitherto  produced  painful  apprehen 
sums  in  the  public  mind  ;  and  I  repeat  the  solemr 
warning  of  the  first  and  most  illustrious  of  my 
predecessors,  against  furnishing  any  ground  for 
characterizing  parties  by  geographical  discri 
minations." 

Jan.  Uh. — Gen.  Sam.  Houston  of  Texas 
submitted  to  the  Senate  the  following  pro 
position  : 

"  Whereas,  The  Congress  of  the  United  State? 
possessing  only  a  delegated  authority,  have  no 

Sower  over  the  subject  of  Negro  Slavery  within 
10  limits  of  the  United  States,  either  to  prohibit 
or  interfere  with  it,  in  the  States,  Territories,  or 
District,  where,  by  municipal  law,  it  now  exists, 
or  to  establish  it  in  any  State  or  Territory  where 
it  does  not  exist ;  but,  as  an  assurance  and  gua 
rantee  to  promote  harmony,  quiet  apprehension, 
and  remove  sectional  prejudice,  which  by  possi 
bility  might  impair  or  weaken  love  and  devotion 
to  the  Union  m  any  part  of  the  country,  it  is 
hereby 

"  Resolved,  That,  as  the  people  in  Territories 
have  the  same  inherent  rights  of  self  government 
as  the  people  in  the  States,  if,  in  the  exercise  of 
such  inherent  rights,  the  people  in  the  newly- 
acquired  Territories,  by  the  Annexation  of  Texas 
and  the  acquisition  of  California  and  New-Mexico, 
south  of  the  parallel  of  36  degrees  and  30  minutes 
of  north  latitude,  extending  to  the  Pacific  Ocean, 
shall  establish  Negro  Slavery  in  the  formation  of 
their  state  governments,  it  shall  be  deemed  no 
objection  to  their  admission  as  a  State  or  States 
into  the  Union,  in  accordance  with  the  Constitu 
tion  of  the  United  States." 

Jan.  2lst. — Gen.  Taylor,  in  answer  to  a 
resolution  of  inquiry,  sent  a  message  to  the 
House,  stating  that  he  had  urged  the  forma 
tion  of  State  Governments  in  California  and 
New-Mexico.  He  adds  : 

"  In   advising    an    early  application    by  the 

nple  of  these  Territories  for  admission  as  States, 
•as  actuated  principally  by  an  earnest  desire 
to  afford  to  the  wisdom  and  patriotism  of  Con 
gress  the  opportunity  of  avoiding  occasions  of 
bitter  and  angry  discussions  among  the  people 
of  the  United  States. 

"  Under  the  Constitution,  every  State  has  the 
right  to  establish,  and,  from  time  to  time,  alter 
its  municipal  laws  and  domestic  institutions,  in 
dependently  of  every  other  State  and  of  the 
General  Government,  subject  only  to  the  prohi 
bitions  and  guarantees  expressly  set  forth  in  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States.  The  subjects 
thus  left,  exclusively  to  the  respective  States, 
were  not  designed  or  expected  to  become  topics 
of  National  agitation.  Still  as,  under  the  Consti 
tution,  Congress  has  power  to  make  all  needful 
rules  and  regulations  respecting  the  Territories 
of  the  United  States,  every  new  acquisition  of 
territory  has  led  to  discussions  on  the  question 
whether  the  system  of  involuntary  servitude, 
which  prevails  in  many  of  the  States,  should  or 
should  not  be  prohibited  in  that  Territory.  The 

Eeriods   of  excitement  from  this   cause,   which 
ave    heretofore    occurred,    have    been    safely 
passed;   but,  during  the  interval,  of  whatever 


length,^  which  may  elapse  before  the  admission 
of  the  Territories  ceded  by  Mexico,  as  States,  it 
appears  probable  that  similar  excitement  will 
prevail  to  an  undue  extent. 

"  Under  these  circumstances,  I  thought,  and 
still  think,  that  it  was  my  duty  to  endeavor  to 
put  it  in  the  power  of  Congress,  by  the  admission 
of  California  and  New-Mexico  as  States,  to  re 
move  all  occasion  for  the  unnecessary  agitation 
of  the  public  mind. 

"  It  is  understood  that  the  people  of  the  Western 
part  of  California  have  formed  the  plan  of  a  State 
Constitution,  and  will  soon  submit  the  same  to 
the  judgment  of  Congress,  and  apply  for  admis 
sion  as  a  State.  This  course  on  their  part,  though 
in  accordance  with,  was  not  adopted  exclusively 
in  consequence  of,  any  expression  of  my  wishes, 
inasmuch  as  measures  tending  to  this  end  had 
been  promoted  by  officers  sent  there  by  my  pre 
decessor,  and  were  already  in  active  progress  of 
execution,  before  any  communication  from  me 
reached  California.  If  the  proposed  constitution 
shall,  when  submitted  to  Congress,  be  found  to 
be  in  compliance  with  the  requisitions  of  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States,  I  earnestly 
recommend  that  it  may  receive  the  sanction  of 
Congress." 

He  adds— 

"  Should  Congress,  when  California  shall  pre 
sent  herself  for  incorporation  into  the  Union, 
annex  a  condition  to  her  admission  as  a  State 
affecting  her  domestic  institutions  contrary  to 
the  wishes  of  her  people,  and  even  compel  her 
temporarily  to  comply  with  it,  yet  the  State  could 
change  her  constitution  at  any  time  after  admis 
sion,  when  to  her  it  should  seem  expedient.  Any 
attempt  to  deny  to  the  people  of  the  State  the 
right  of  self-government,  in  a  matter  which  pecu 
liarly  affects  themselves,  will  infallibly  be  re 
garded  by  them  as  an  invasion  of  their  rights ; 
and,  upon  the  principles  laid  down  in  our  own 
Declaration  of  Independence,  they  will  certainly 
be  sustained  by  the  great  mass  of  the  American 
people.  To  assert  that  they  are  a  conquered 
people,  and  must,  as  a  State,  submit  to  the  will  of 
their  conquerors,  in  this  regard,  will  meet  with  no 
cordial  response  among  A  merican  freemen.  Great 
lumbers  of  them  are  native  citizens  of  the  United 
States,  and  not  inferior  to  the  rest  of  our  country 
men  in  intelligence  and  patriotism;  and  no  lan 
guage  of  menace  to  restrain  them  in  the  exercise  of 
in  undoubted  right,  substantially  guarantied  to 
them  by  the  treaty  of  cession  itself,  shall  ever  be 
uttered  by  me,  or  encouraged  and  sustained  by 
persons  acting  under  my  authority.  It  is  to  be 
>xpectcd  that,  in  the  residue  of  the  territory  ceded 
o  us  by  Mexico,  the  people  residing  there  will,  at 
he  time  of  their  incorporation  into  the  Union  as  a 
State,  settle  all  questions  of  domestic  policy  to 
suit  themselves." 

Feb.  13,  1850. — Gen.  Taylor  communi 
cated  to  Congress  the  Constitution  (free)  of 
the  State  of  California. 

Jan.  29th,  1850.— Mr.  Henry  Clay  of  Ky. 
submitted  to  the  Senate  the  following  pro 
positions,  which  were  made  a  special  order 
md  printed  : 

"  1.  Resolved,  That  California,  with  suitable 
)oundaries,  ought,  upon  her  application,  to  be  ad 
mitted  as  one  of  the  States  of  this  Union,  without 
he  imposition  by  Congress  of  any  restriction  in 
•espect  to  the  exclusion  or  introduction  of  Slavery 
vithin  those  boundaries. 

"  2.  Resolved,  That  as  Slavery  does  not  exist  by 
aw,  and  is  not  likely  to  be  introduced  into  any  of 
he  territory  acquired  by  the  United  States  from  the 
Republic  of  Mexico,  it  is  inexpedient  for  Congress 
o  provide  by  law  either  for  its  introduction  into, 


5G 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR   SLAVERY    RESTRICTION. 


or  exclusion  from,  any  part  of  the  said  territory  ; 
and  that  appropriate  territorial  governments  ought 
to  be  established  by  Congress  in  all  the  said  ter 
ritory,  not  assigned  as  within  the  boundaries 
of' the  proposed  State  of  California,  without  the 
adoption  of  any  restriction  or  condition  on  the 

'•  :i  Resohed,  That  the  western  boundary  of  the 
State  of  Texas  ought  to  be  fixed  on  the  Rio  del 
Norte,  commencing  one  marine  league  from  its 
mouth,  and  running  up  that  river  to  the  southern 
line  of  New-Mexico ;  thence  with  that  line  east- 
wardly,  and  so  continuing  in  the  same  direction 
to  the  line  as  established  between  the  United 
States  and  Spain,  excluding  any  portion  of  New- 
Mexico,  whether  lying  on  the  east  or  west  of  that 
river. 

"  4.  Resolved,  That  it  be  proposed  to  the  State 
of  Texas,  that  the  United  States  will  provide  for 
the  payment  of  all  that  portion  of  the  legitimate 
and  bonaf.de.  public  debt  of  that  State  contracted 
prior  to  its  annexation  to  the  United  States,  and 
for  which  the  duties  on  foreign  imports  were 
pledged  by  the  said  State  to  its  creditors,  not 
exceeding  the  sum  of dollars,  in  consider 
ation  of  the  said  duties  so  pledged  having  been  no 
longer  applicable  to  that  object  after  the  said  an 
nexation,  but  having  thenceforward  become  pay 
able  to  the  United  States ;  and  upon  the  condition, 
also,  that  the  said  State  of  Texas  shall,  by  some 
solemn  and  authentic  act  of  her  legislature,  or  of  a 
convention,  relinquish  to  the  United  States  any 
claim  which  she  has  to  any  part  of  New-Mexico. 

"5.  Resolved,  That  it  is  inexpedient  to  abolish 
Slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia  whilst  that 
institution  continues  to  exist  in  the  State  of  Mary 
land,  without  the  consent  ot  that  State,  without 
the  consent  of  the  people  of  the  District,  and 
without  just  compensation  to  the  owners  of  Slaves 
within  the  District. 

"  b'.  But  Resolved,  that  it  is  expedient  to  pro 
hibit,  within  the  District,  the  slave  trade  in  slaves 
brought  into  it  from  States  or  places  beyond  the 
limits  of  the  District,  either  to  be  sold  therein  as 
merchandise,  or  to  be  transported  to  other  markets 
without  the  District  of  Columbia. 

"  7.  Resolved,  That  more  effectual  provision 
ought  to  be  made  bylaw,  according  to  the  re 
quirement  of  the  Constitution,  for  the  restitution 
and  delivery  of  persons  bound  to  service  or  labor 
in  any  State,  who  may  escape  into  any  other  State 
or  Territory  in  the  Union.  And, 

"  8.  Resolved,  That  Congress  has  no  power  to 
prohibit  or  obstruct  the  trade  in  slaves  between 
the  Slaveholding  States,  but  that  the  admission 
or  exclusion  of  Slaves  brought  from  one  into 
another  of  them,  depends  exclusively  upon  then- 
own  particular  laws." 

Feb.  28th.— Mr.  John  Bell  of  Term,  sub 
mitted  to  the  Senate  the  following  propo 
sitions  : 

"  Whereas,  Considerations  of  the  highest  inter 
est  to  the  whole  country  demand  that  the  existing 
and  increasing  dissensions  between  the  North  and 
the  South,  on  the  subject  of  Slavery,  should  be 
speedily  arrested,  and  that  the  questions  in  con 
troversy  be  adjusted  upon  some  basis  which  shall 
tend  to  give  present  quiet,  repress  sectional  ani 
mosities,  remove,  as  far  as  possible,  the  causes 
of  future  discord,  and  secure  the  uninterrupted 
enjoyment  of  those  benefits  and  advantages  which 
the  Union  was  intended  to  confer  in  equal  measure 
upon  all  its  members  ; 

"  And,  whereas,  It  is  manifest,  under  present 
circumstances,  lhat  no  adjustment  can  be  effected 
of  the  points  of  difference  unhappily  existing  be 
tween  the  Northern  and  Southern  sections  of  the 
Union,  connected  with  the  subject  of  Slavery, 
which  shall  secure  to  either  section  all  that  is  con 


tended  for,  and  that  mutual  concessions  upon 
questions  of  mere  policy,  not  involving  the  viola 
tion  of  any  constitutional  right  or  principle,  must 
be  the  basis  of  every  project  affording  any  assur 
ance  of  a  favorable  acceptance  ; 

"  And,  whereas,  The  joint  resolution  for  an 
nexing  Texas  to  the  United  States,  approved 
March  1,  1845,  contains  the  following  condi 
tion  and  guarantee — that  is  to  say  :  '  New  States 
of  convenient  size,  not  exceeding  four  in  num 
ber,  in  addition  to  said  State  of  Texas,  and  having 
sufficient  population,  may  hereafter,  by  the  con 
sent  of  said  State,  be  formed  out  of  the  territory 
thereof,  which  shall  be  entitled  to  admission  under 
the  provisions  of  the  Federal  Constitution ;  and 
such  States  as  may  be  formed  out  of  that  portion 
of  said  territory  lying  south  of  thirty-six  degrees 
thirty  minutes  north  latitude,  commonly  known 
as  the  Missouri  Compromise  line,  shall  be  admit 
ted  into  the  Union  with  or  without  Slavery,  as  the 
people  of  each  State  asking  admission  may  desire  ; 
and  in  such  State  or  States  as  shall  be  formed  out 
of  said  territory  north  of  said  Missouri  Compro 
mise  line,  Slavery,  or  involuntary  servitude  (ex 
cept  for  crime),  shall  be  prohibited:'  Therefore, 

"1.  Resolved,  That  the  obligation  to  comply  with 
the  condition  and  guarantee  above  recited  in 
good  faith  be  distinctly  recognized  ;  and  that,  in 
part  compliance  with  the  same,  as  soon  as  the 
people  of  Texas  shall,  by  an  act  of  their  leg 
islature,  signify  their  assent  by  restricting  the 
limits  thereof,  within  the  territory  lying  east  of 
the  Trinity  and  south  of  the  Red  River,  and 
when  the  people  of  the  residue  of  the  territory 
claimed  by  Texas  adopt  a  constitution,  republi 
can  in  form,  they  be  admitted  into  the  Union 
upon  an  equal  footing  in  all  respects  with  the  ori 
ginal  States. 

"  2.  Resolved,  That  if  Texas  shall  agree  to 
cede,  the  United  States  will  accept,  a  cession  of 
all  the  unappropriated  domain  in  all  the  terri 
tory  claimed  by  Texas,  lying  west  of  the  Colorado 
and  extending  north  to  the  forty-second  parallel 
of  north  latitude,  together  with  the  jurisdiction 
and  sovereignty  of  all  the  territory  claimed  by 
Texas,  north  of  the  thirty-fourth  parallel  of  north 
latitude,  and  to  pay  therefor  a  sum  not  exceeding 
-  millions  of  dollars,  to  be  applied  in  the 
first  place  to  the  extinguishment  of  any  portion 
of  the  existing  public  debt  of  Texas,  for  the  dis 
charge  of  which  the  United  States  are  under  any 
obligation,  implied  or  otherwise,  and  the  remain 
der  as  Texas  shall  require. 

"  3.  Resolved,  That  when  the  population  of 
that  portion  of  the  territory  claimed  by  Texas, 
lying  south  of  the  thirty-fourth  parallel  of  north 
latitude  and  west  of  the  Colorado,  shall  be  equal 
to  the  ratio  of  representation  in  Congress,  under 
the  last  preceding  apportionment,  according  to 
the  provisions  of  the  Constitution,  and  the  peoplo 
of  such  territory  shall,  with  the  assent  of  the  new 
State  contemplated  in  the  preceding  resolution, 
have  adopted  a  State  Constitution,  republican  in 
form,  they  be  admitted  into  the  Union  as  a  State, 
upon  an  equal  footing  with  the  original  States, 

"4.  Resolved,  That  all  the  territory  now 
claimed  by  Texas,  lying  north  of  the  thirty-fourth 
parallel  of  north  latitude,  and  which  may  be 
ceded  to  tiie  United  States  by  Texas,  be  incorpor 
ated  with  the  Territory  of  New-Mexico,  except 
such  part  thereof  as  lies  east  of  the  Rio  Grando 
and  south  of  the  thirty-fourth  degree  of  north 
latitude,  and  that  the  Territory  so  composed  form 
a  State,  to  be  admitted  into  the  Union  when  the 
inhabitants  thereof  shall  adopt  a  State  Constitu 
tion,  republican  in  form,  with  the  consent  of  Con 
gress  ;  but,  in  the  mean  time,  and  until  Congress 
shall  give  such  consent,  provision  be  made  for 
the  government  of  the  inhabitants  of  said  Terri 
tory  suitable  to  their  condition,  but  without  any 
restriction  as  to  Slavery. 


THE  COMPROMISE  OF   1850. 


57 


"5,  Resolved,  That  all  the  territory  ceded  to 
the  United  States,  by  the  Treaty  of  Guadaloupe 
Hidalgo,  lying  west  of  said  Territory  of  New- 
Mexico,  and  east  of  the  contemplated  new  State 
of  California,  for  the  present,  constitute  one  Ter 
ritory,  and  for  which  some  form  of  government 
suitable  to  the  condition  of  the  inhabitants  be 
provided,  without  any  restriction  as  to  Slavery. 

"  6.  Resolved,  That  the  constitution  recently 
formed  by  the  people  of  the  western  portion  of 
California,  and  presented  to  Congress  by  the  Pre 
sident  on  the  13th  day  of  February,  1850,  be  ac 
cepted,  and  that  they  be  admitted  into  the  Union 
as  a  State,  upon  an  equal  footing  ia  all  respects 
with  the  original  States. 

"  7.  Resolved^  That,  in  future,  the  formation  of 
State  Constitutions,  by  the  inhabitants  of  the 
territories  of  the  United  States,  be  regulated  by 
law  ;  and  that  no  such  constitution  be  hereafter 
formed  or  adopted  by  the  inhabitants  of  any  Ter 
ritory  belonging  to  the  United  States,  without 
the  consent  and  authority  of  Congress. 

"  8.  Resolved,  That  the  inhabitants  of  any 
Territory  of  the  United  States,  when  they  shall 
be  authorized  by  Congress  to  form  a  State  Con 
stitution,  shall  have  the  solo  and  exclusive  power 
to  regulate  and  adjust  all  questions  of  internal 
State  policy,  of  whatever  nature  they  may  be, 
controlled  only  by  the  restrictions  expressly 
imposed  by  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States. 

"  9.  Resolved,  That  the  Committee  on  Terri 
tories  be  instructed  to  report  a  bill  in  conformity 
with  the  spirit  and  principles  of  the  foregoing  re 
solutions." 

A  debate  of  unusual  duration,  earnestness, 
and  ability  ensued,  mainly  on  Mr.  Clay's 
Resolutions.  They  were  regarded  by  uncom 
promising1  champions,  whether  of  Northern 
or  of  Southern  views,  but  especially  of  the 
latter,  as  conceding  substantially  the  matter 
in  dispute  to  the  other  side.  Thus, 

Jan.  29th. — Mr.  Clay  having  read  and 
briefly  commented  on  his  propositions,  seria 
tim,  he  desired  that  they  should  be  held 
over  without  debate,  to  give  time  for  con 
sideration,  and  made  a  special  order  for 
Monday  or  Tuesday  following.  But  this 
was  not  assented  to. 

Mr.  Rusk  rose  at  once  to  protest  against 
that  portion  of  them  which  called  in  ques 
tion  the  right  of  Texas  to  so  much  of  New- 
Mexico  as  lies  east  of  the  Rio  del  Norte. 

Mr.  Foote  of  Miss,  spoke  against  them 
generally,  saying : 

"  If  I  understand  the  resolutions  properly,  they 
are  objectionable,  as  it  seems  to  me, 

"  1.  Because  they  only  assert  that  it  isnote.r/?e- 
dientthut  Congress  should  abolish  Slavery  in  the 
District  of  Columbia ;  thus  allowing  the  implica 
tion  to  arise  that  Congress  has  power  to  legislate 
on  the  subject  of  Slavery  in  the  District,  which 
may  hereafter  be  exercised,  if  it  should  become 
expedient  to  do  so ;  whereas,  I  hold  that  Con 
gress  has,  under  the  Constitution,  no  such  power 
at  all,  and  that  any  attempt  thus  to  legislate  would 
be  a  gross  fraud  upon  all  the  States  of  the  Union. 

"  2.  The  Resolutions  of  the  honorable  Senator 
assert  that  Slavery  does  not  now  exist  by  law  in 
the  territories  recently  acquired  from  Mexico ; 
whereas,  I  am  of  opinion  that  the  treaty  with  the 
Mexican  republic  carried  the  Constitution,  with 
all  its  guaranties,  to  all  the  territory  obtained  by 
treaty,  and  secured  the  privilege  to  every  South 
ern  slaveholder  to  enter  any  part  of  it,  attended 


by  bis  slave-property,  and  to  enjoy  the  same 
therein,  free  from  all  molestation  or  hindrance 
whatsoever. 

•'  3.  Whether  Slavery  is  or  is  not  likely  to  be 
introduced  into  these  territories,  or  into  any  of 
them,  is  a  proposition  too  uncertain,  in  my  judg 
ment,  to  be  at  present  positively  affirmed  ;  and  I 
am  unwilling  to  make  a  solemn  legislative  decla 
ration  on  the  point.  Let  the  future  provide  the 
appropriate  solution  of  this  interesting  question. 

"  4.  Considering,  as  I  have  several  times  here 
tofore  formally  declared,  the  title  of  Texas  to  all 
the  territory  embraced  in  her  boundaries,  as  laid 
down  in  her  law  of  1836,  full,  complete,  and  unde 
niable,  I  am  unwilling  to  say  anything,  by  reso 
lution  or  otherwise,  which  may  'in  the  least  de 
gree  draw  that  title  into  question,  as  I  think  is 
done  in  one  of  the  resolutions  of  the  honorable 
Senator  from  Kentucky. 

"  5.  I  am,  upon  constitutional  and  other 
grounds,  wholly  opposed  to  the  principle  of  as 
suming  State  debts,  which  I  understand  to  be 
embodied  in  one  of  the  resolutions  of  the  hon 
orable  Senator  from  Kentucky.  If  Texan  soil  is 
to  be  bought,  (and  with  certain  appropriate  safe 
guards,  I  am  decidedly  in  favor  of  it,)  let  us  pay 
to  the  sovereign  State  of  Texas  the  value  thereof 
in  money,  to  be  used  by  her  as  she  pleases.  It 
will  be,  as  I  think,  more  delicate  and  respectful 
to  let  her  provide  for  the  management  of  this 
matter,  which  is  strictly  domestic  in  its  charac 
ter,  in  such  manner  as  she  may  choose — presum 
ing  that  she  will  act  wisely,  justly,  and  honorably 
toward  all  to  whom  she  may  be  indebted. 

"6.  As  to  the  abolition  of  the  slave-trade  in 
the  District  of  Columbia.  I  see  no  particular  ob 
jection  to  it,  provided  it  is  done  in  a  delicate  and 
judicious  manner,  and  is  not  a  concession  to  the 
menaces  and  demands  of  factionists  and  fanatics. 
If  other  questions  can  be  adjusted,  this  one  will, 
perhaps,  occasion  but  little  difficulty. 

"  7.  The  resolutions  which  provide  for  the  res 
toration  of  fugitives  from  labor  or  service,  and 
for  the  establishment  of  territorial  governments, 
free  from  all  restriction  on  the  subject  of  Slavery, 
have  my  hearty  approval.  The  last  resolution — 
which  asserts  that  Congress  has  no  power  to 
prohibit  the  trade  in  Slaves  from  State  to  State — 
I  equally  approve. 

"  8.  If  all  other  questions  connected  with  the 
subject  of  Slavery  can  be  satisfactorily  adjusted, 
I  can  see  no  objection  to  admitting  all  California, 
above  the  line  of  36  deg.  30  min.,  into  the  Union ; 
provided  another  new  Slave  State  can  be  laid 
off  within  the  present  limits  of  Texas,  so  as  to 
keep  the  present  eqniponderance  between  the 
Slave  and  Free  States  of  the  Union ;  and  pro 
vided  further,  all  this  is  done  by  way  of  com 
promise,  and  in  order  to  save  the  Union,  (as  dear 
to  me  as  to  any  man  living.") 

Mr.  Mason  of  Ya.,  after  expressing  his 
deep  anxiety  to  "  go  with  him  who  went 
furthest,  but  within  the  limits  of  strict 
duty,  in  adjusting  these  unhappy  differ 
ences,"  added  : 

"  Sir,  go  far  as  I  have  read  these  resolutions, 
there  is  but  one  proposition  to  which  I  can  give 
a  hearty  assent,  and  that  is  the  resolution  which 
proposes  to  organize  Territorial  governments  at 
once  in  these  Territories,  without  a  declaration 
one  way  or  the  other  as  to  their  domestic  institu 
tions.  I3ut  there  is  another  which  I  deeply  regret 
to  soe  introduced  into  this  Senate,  by  a  Senator 
from  a  slavoholding  State ;  it  is  that  which  assumes 
that  Slavery  does  not  now  exist  by  law  in  those 
countries.  I  understand  one  of  these  propositions 
to  declare  that,  by  law.  Slavery  is  now  abolished 
in  New-Mexico  and  California.  That  was  the  very 
proposition  advanced  by  the  nou-elaveholding 


58 


THE   STRUGGLE   FOR  SLAVERY   RESTRICTION. 


States  at  the  last  session;  combated  and  dis 
proved,  as  I  thought,  by  gentlemen  from  the  slave- 
holding  States,  and  which  the  Compromise  bill 
was  framed  to  test.  So  far,  J  regarded  the  ques 
tion  of  law  as  disposed  of,  and  it  was  very  clearly 
and  satisfactorily  shown  to  be  against  the  spirit 
of  the  resolution  of  the  Senator  from  Kentucky. 
If  the  contrary  is  true,  I  presume  the  Senator 
from  Kentucky  would  declare  that  if  a  law  is  now 
valid  in  the  Territories  abolishing  Slavery,  that  it 
could  not  be  introduced  there,  even  if  a  law  was 
passed  creating  the  institution,  or  repealing  the 
statutes  already  existing ;  a  doctrine  never  as 
sented  to,  so  far  as  I  know,  until  now,  by  any 
Senator  representing  one  of  the  slaveholding 
States.  Sir,  I  hold  the  very  opposite,  and  with 
such  confidence,  that  at  the  last  session  I  was 
willing  and  did  vote  for  a  bill  to  test  this  question 
in  the  Supreme  Court.  Yet  this  resolution  as 
sumes  the  other  doctrine  to  be  true,  and  our  assent 
is  challenged  to  it  as  a  proposition  of  law. 

"  I  do  not  mean  to  detain  the  Senate  by  any  dis 
cussion  ;  but  I  deemed  it  to  be  my  duty  to  enter  a 
decided  protest,  on  the  part  of  Virginia,  against 
such  doctrines.  They  concede  the  whole  question 
at  once,  that  our  people  shall  not  go  into  the  new 
Territories  and  take  their  property  with  them  ;  a 
doctrine  to  which  I  never  will  assent,  and  for 
which,  sir,  no  law  can  be  found.  There  are  other 
portions  of  the  resolutions,  for  which,  if  they  could 
be  separated,  I  should  be  very  willing  to  vote. 
That  respecting  fugitive  slaves,  and  that  respect 
ing  the  organization  of  governments  in  these 
Territories,  I  should  be  willing  to  vote  for ;  and  I 
am  happy  to  declare  the  gratification  I  experience 
at  finding  the  Senator  from  Kentucky  differing  so 
much,  on  this  subject,  from  the  Executive  message 
recently  laid  before  the  Senate.  I  beg  not  to  be 
understood  as  having  spoken  in  any  spirit  of  un- 
kindness  towards  the  Senator  from  Kentucky, 
for  whom  I  entertain  the  warmest  and  most  pro 
found  respect :  but  I  cannot  but  express  also  my 
regret  that  he  has  felt  it  to  be  his  duty,  standing 
as  he  does  before  this  people,  and  representing 
the  people  he  does,  to  introduce  into  this  body 
resolutions  of  this  kind." 

Mr.  Jefferson  Davis  of  Miss,  (since  and 
now  Secretary  of  War)  objected  specially  to 
so  much  of  Mr.  Clay's  propositions  as  relates 
to  the  boundary  of  Texas,  to  the  Slave-trade 
in  the  Federal  district,  and  to  Mr.  Clay's 
avowal  in  his  speech  that  he  did  not  believe 
Slavery  ever  would  or  could  be  established 
in  any  part  of  the  territories  acquired  from 
Mexico.  He  continued  : 

"  But,  sir,  we  are  called  upon  to  receive  this  as 
a  measure  of  compromise !  As  a  measure  in  which 
we  of  the  minority  are  to  receive  nothing.  A 
measure  of  compromise  !  I  look  upon  it  as  but 
a  modest  mode  of  taking  that,  the  claim  to  which 
has  been  more  boldly  asserted  by  others  ;  and, 
that  I  may  be  understood  upon  this  question, 
and  that  my  position  may  go  forth  to  the  coun 
try  in  the  same  columns  that  convey  the  senti 
ments  of  the  Senator  from  Kentucky,  I  here 
assert,  that  never  will  I  take  less  than  the  Mis 
souri  Compromise  line  extended  to  the  Pacific 
ocean,  with  the  specific  recognition  of  the  right 
to  hold  slaves  in  the  territory  below  that  line ; 
and  that,  before  such  territories  are  admitted  in 
to  the  Union  as  States,  slaves  may  be  taken  there 
from  any  of  the  United  States  at  the  option  of 
the  owners.  I  can  never  consent  to  give  addi 
tional  power  to  a  majority  to  commit  further  ag 
gressions  upon  the  minority  in  this  Union  ;  and 
will  never  consent  to  any  proposition  which 
will  have  such  a  tendency,  without  a  full  guar 


anty  or  counteracting  measure  is  connected  with 
it." 

Mr.  Clay  in  reply  said  : 

"  I  am  extremely  sorry  to  hear  the  Senator 
from  Mississippi  say  that  he  requires,  first, 
the  extension  of  the  Missouri  Compromise  line  to 
the  Pacific ;  and  also  that  he  is  not  satisfied  with 
that,  but  requires,  if  I  understood  him  correctly, 
a  positive  provision  for  the  admission  of  Slavery 
south  of  that  line.  And  now,  sir,  coming  from  a 
Slave  State,  as  I  do,  I  owe  it  to  myself,  I  owe  it 
to  truth,  I  owe  it  to  the  subject,  to  state  that  no 
earthly  power  could  induce  me  to  vote  for  a  spe 
cific  measure  for  the  introduction  of  Slavery 
where  it  had  not  before  existed,  either  south  or 
north  of  that  line.  Coming  as  I  do  from  a  Slave 
State,  it  is  my  solemn,  deliberate,  and  well  ma 
tured  determination  that  no  power — no  earthly 
power — shall  compel  me  to  vote  for  the  positive 
introduction  of  Slavery  either  south  or  north  of 
that  line.  Sir,  while  you  reproach,  and  justly, 
too,  our  British  ancestors  for  the  introduction  of 
this  institution  upon  the  t  ontinent  of  America,  I 
am,  for  one,  unwilling  that  the  posterity  of  the 
present  inhabitants  of  California  and  of  New- 
Mexico  shall  reproach  us  for  doing  just  what  we 
reproach  Great  Britain  for  doing  to  us.  If  the 
citizens  of  those  Territories  choose  to  estab 
lish  Slavery,  I  am  for  admitting  them  with  such 
provisions  in  their  constitutions ;  but  then,  it 
will  be  their  own  work,  and  not  ours,  and  their 
posterity  will  have  to  repronch  them,  and  not.  us, 
for  forming  constitutions  allowing  the  institu 
tion  of  Slavery  to  exist  among  them.  These  are 
my  views,  sir,  and  I  choose  to  express  them  ; 
and  I  care  not  how  extensively  and  universally 
they  are  known.  The  honorable  Senator  from 
Virginia  has  expressed  his  opinion  that  Slavery 
exists  in  these  Territories,  and  I  have  no  doubt 
that  opinion  is  sincerely  and  honestly  entertained 
by  him ;  and  I  would  say  with  equal  sincerity  and 
honesty,  that  I  believe  that  Slavery  nowhere 
exists  within  any  portion  of  the  Territory  ac 
quired  by  us  from  Mexico.  He  holds  a  directly 
contrary  opinion  to  mine,  as  he  has  a  perfect 
right  to  do ;  and  we  will  not  quarrel  about  that 
diflereuce  of  opinion." 

Mr.  William  R.  King  of  Ala.  was  in 
clined  to  look  with  favor  on  Mr.  Clay's  pro 
positions,  and  assented  to  some  of  them  ;  but 
he  objected  to  the  mode  in  which  California 
had  formed  what  is  called  a  State  Constitu 
tion.  He  preferred  the  good  old  way  of  first 
organizing  Territories,  and  so  training  up 
their  people  "  for  the  exercise  and  enjoy 
ment  of  our  institutions."  Besides,  he 
thought  "  there  was  not  that  kind  of  popu 
lation  there  that  justified  the  formation  of  a 
State  Government."  On  the  question  of 
Slavery  in  the  new  Territories,  he  said  : 

"  With  regard  to  the  opinions  of  honorable 
Senators,  respecting  the  operation  of  the  laws  of 
Mexico  in  our  newly-acquired  territories,  there 
may  be,  and  no  doubt  is,  an  honest  difference  of 
opinion  with  regard  to  that  matter.  Some  believe 
that  the  municipal  institutions  of  Mexico  over 
rule  the  provisions  of  our  Constitution,  and  pre 
vent  us  from  carrying  our  slaves  there.  That  is 
a  matter  which  I  do  not  propose  to  discuss  ;  it  has 
been  discussed  at  length  in  the  debate  upon  the 
Compromise  bill,  putting  it  on  the  ground  of  a 
judicial  decision.  Sir,  I  know  not. — nor  is  it  a 
matter  of  much  importance  with  me — whether 
that  which  the  honorable  Senator  states  to  be  a 
fact,  and  which,  as  has  been  remarked  by  the 
Senator  from  Mississippi,  can  only  be  conjectural, 


THE  COMPROMISE  OF  1850. 


59 


be  in  reality  go  or  not — that  Slavery  never  can  go 
there.  This  is  what  is  stated,  however.  Well, 
be  it  so.  If  slave  labor  be  not  profitable  there, 
it  will  not  go  there ;  or,  if  it  go,  who  will  be 
benefited  ?  Not  the  South.  They  will  never 
compel  it  to  go  there.  We  are  misunderstood — 
grossly,  I  may  say — by  honorable  Senators, 
though  not  intentionally  ;  but  we  are  contending 
for  a  principle,  and  a  great  principle — a  principle 
lying  at  the  very  foundation  of  our  constitutional 
rights — involving,  as  has  been  remarked,  our 
property  ;  in  one  word,  involving  our  safety,  our 
honor,  all  that  is  dear  to  us,  as  American  free 
men.  Well,  sir,  for  that  principle  we  will  be  com 
pelled  to  contend  to  the  utmost,  and  to  resist  ag 
gression  at  every  hazard  and  at  every  sacrifice. 
That  is  the  position  in  which  we  are  placed.  We 
ask  no  act  of  Congress — as  has  been  properly  in 
timated  by  the  Senator  from  Mississippi — to  carry 
Slavery  anywhere.  Sir,  I  believe  we  have  as 
much  constitutional  power  to  prohibit  Slavery 
from  going  into  the  territories  of  the  United 
States,  as  we  have  to  pass  an  act  carrying  Slave 
ry  there.  We  have  no  right  to  do  either  the  one 
or  the  other.  I  would  as  soon  vote  for  the  Wil- 
mot  Proviso  as  I  would  vote  for  any  law  which 
required  that  Slavery  should  go  into  any  of  the 
Territories." 

Mr.  Downs  of  Louisiana  said  : 
"  I  must  confess  that,  in  the  whole  course  of 
my  life,  my  astonishment  has  never  been  greater 
than  it  was  when  I  saw  this  [Mr.  Clay's]  pro 
position  brought  forward  as  a  compromise;  and 
I  rise  now,  sir,  not  for  the  purpose  of  discussing 
it  at  all,  but  to  protest  most  solemnly  against  it. 
I  consider  this  compromise  as  no  compromise  at 
all.  What,  sir,  does  it  grant  to  the  South  ?  I 
can  see  nothing  at  all.  The  first  resolution  offer 
ed  by  the  honorable  Senator  proposes  to  admit 
the  State  of  California  with  a  provision  prohibit 
ing  Slavery  in  territory  which  embraces  all  our 
possessions  on  the  Pacific.  It  is  true,  there  may 
be  a  new  regulation  of  the  boundary  hereafter  ; 
but,  if  there  were  to  be  such  a  regulation,  why 
was  it  not  embraced  in  this  resolution  1  As  no 
boundary  is  mentioned,  we  have  a  right  to  pre 
sume  that  the  boundary  established  by  the  Con 
stitution  of  California  was  to  be  received  as  the 
established  boundary.  What  concession,  then, 
is  it  from  the  North,  that  we  admit  a  State  thus 
prohibiting  Slavery,  embracing  the  whole  of  our 
possessions  on  the  Pacific  coast,  according  to 
these  resolutions  1  As  to  the  resolution  relating 
to  New-Mexico  and  Deseret,  if  it  had  simply  con 
tained  the  provision  that  a  constitutional  govern 
ment  shall  be  established  there,  without  any 
mention  of  Slavery  whatever,  it  would  have  been 
well  enough.  But,  inasmuch  as  it  is  affirmed  that 
Slavery  does  not  now  exist  in  these  Territories, 
does  it  not  absolutely  preclude  its  admission 
there  1  and  the  resolutions  might  just  as  well 
affirm  that  Slavery  should  be  prohibited  in  these 
Territories.  The  Senator  from  Alabama,  if  I  un 
derstood  him  aright,  maintains  that  the  proposi 
tion  is  of  the  same  import  as  the  Wilmot  Pro 
viso  ;  and,  in  view  of  these  facts,  I  would  ask, 
is  there  anything  conceded  to  us  of  the  South  ?" 

Mr.  Butler  of  South  Carolina  said  : 
"  Perhaps  our  Northern  brethren  ought  to  un 
derstand  that  all  the  Compromises  that  have  beer 
made,  have  been  by  concessions— acknowledged 
concessions— on  the  part  of  the  South.  When 
other  compromises  are  proposed,  that  requirt 
new  concessions  on  their  part,  whilst  none  are 
exacted  on  the  other,  the  issue,  at  least,  should  be 
presented  for  their  consideration  before  they 
come  to  the  decision  of  their  great  question.  If 
1  understand  it,  the  Senator  from  Kentucky's 
whole  proposition  of  compromise  is  nothing  more 


han  this  :  That  California  is  already  disposed  of, 
laving  formed  a  State  Constitution,  and  that 
Territorial  Governments  shall  be  organized  for 
Deseret  and  New-Mexico,  under  which,  by  the 
peration  of  laws  already  existing,  a  slavehold- 
ng  population  could  not  carry  with  them,  or  own 
laves  there.  What  is  there  in  the  nature  of  a 
compromise  here,  coupled,  as  it  is.  with  the  pro- 
)osition  that,  by  the  existing  laws  in  the  Terri- 
ories,  it  is  almost  certain  that  slaveholders  can- 
lot,  and  have  no  right  to,  go  there  with  their 
)ropevty  ?  What  is  there  in  the  nature  of  a  com- 
)romise  here  ?  I  am  willing,  however,  to  run  the 
risks,  and  am  ready  to  give  to  the  Territories  the 
governments  they  require.  I  shall  always  think 
hat,  under  a  constitution  giving  equal  rights  to 
all  parties,  the  slavebolding  people,  as  such,  can 
go  to  these  Territories,  and  retain  their  property 
:here.  But,  if  we  adopt  this  proposition  of  the 
Senator  from  Kentucky,  it  is  clearly  on  the  basis 
,hat  Slavery  shall  not  go  there. 

"  I  do  not  understand  the  Senator  from  Missis- 
ippi  (Mr.  Davis)  to  maintain  the  proposition, 
:hat  the  South  asked  or  desired  a  law  declaring 
[hat  Slavery  should  go  there,  or  that  it  maintained 
the  policy  even  that  it  was  the  duty  of  Congress 
to  pass  such  a  law.  We  have  only  nsked,  and  it 
is  the  only  compromise  to  which  we  will  submit, 
that  Congress  shall  withhold  the  hand  of  violence 
from  the  Territories.  The  only  way  in  which 
this  question  can  be  settled  is,  for  gentlemen 
from  the  North  to  withdraw  all  their  opposition 
to  the  Territorial  Governments,  and  not  insist  on 
their  Slavery  Prohibition.  The  Union  is  then 
safe  enough.  Why,  then,  insist  on  a  compromise, 
when  those  already  made  are  sufficient  for  the 
peace  of  the  North  and  South,  if  faithfully  ob 
served  ?  These  propositions  are  in  the  name  of 
a  compromise,  when  none  is  necessary." 

The  debate  having  engrossed  the  attention 
of  the  Senate  for  nearly  two  months — 

March  "25th. — Mr.  Douglas,  from  the  Com 
mittee  on  Territories,  reported  the  following 
bills  : 

Senate,  1G9. — A  bill  for  the  admission  of  Cali 
fornia  into  the  Union. 

Senate,  170.— A  bill  to  establish  the  Territorial 
Governments  of  Utah  and  New-Mexico,  and  for 
other  purposes. 

These  bills  were  read,  and  passed  to  a 
second  reading. 

April  llth. — Mr.  Douglas  moved  that  Mr. 
Bell's  resolves  do  lie  on  the  table.  Lost : 
Yeas  26  ;  Nays  28. 

April  15th. — The  discussion  of  Mr.  Clay's 
resolutions  still  proceeding,  Colonel  Benton 
moved  that  the  previous  orders  be  postponed, 
and  that  the  Senate  now  proceed  to  con 
sider  the  bill  (S.  169)  for  the  admission  of 
the  State  of  California. 

Mr.  Clay  moved  that  this  proposition  do 
lie  on  the  table.  Carried  :  Yeas  27  (for  a 
Compromise)  ;  Nays  24  (for  a  settlement 
without  compromise). 

The  Senate  now  took  up  Mr.  Bell's  re 
solves  aforesaid,  when  Mr.  Benton  moved 
that  they  lie  on  the  table.  Lost :  Yeas  24 ; 
Nays  28. 

Mr.  Benton  next  moved  that  they  be  so 
amended  as  not  to  connect  or  mix  up  the 
admission  of  California  with  any  other 
question.  Lost :  Yeas  23  ;  Nays  28. 


60 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  SLAVERY  RESTRICTION. 


Various  modifications  of  the  generic  idea 
were  severally  voted  down,  generally  by  large 
majorities. 

On  motion  of  Mr.  Foote  of  Miss.,  it  was 
now 

"  Ordered,  That  the  resolution  submitted  by 
Mr.  Bell  011  the  ^8th  February,  together  with  the 
resolutions  submitted  on  the  29th  of  January  by 
Mr.  Clay  be  referred  to  a  Select  Committee  of 
thirteen;  Provided,  that  the  Senate  does  not 
deem  it  necessary,  and  therefore  declines,  to  ex 
press  in  advance  any  opinion,  or  to  give  any  in 
struction,  either  general  or  specific,  for  the  guid 
ance  of  the  said  Committee." 

April  19*/i.— The  Senate  proceeded  to 
elect  by  ballot  such  Select  Committee,  which 
was  composed  as  follows  : 

Mr.  Henry  Clay  of  Ky.  Chairman. 
Messrs.  Dickinson  of  N.  Y.  Cooper  of  Pa. 

Phelps  of  Vt.  Downs  of  La. 

Bell  of  Tenn.  King  of  Ala. 

Cass  of  Mich.  Maugum  of  N.  C. 

Webster  of  Mass.  Mason  of  Va. 

Bcrrien  of  Ga.  Bright  of  Ind. 

May  8th. — Mr.  Clay,  from  said  Com 
mittee,  reported  as  follows  : 

REPORT. 

The  Senate's  Committee  of  thirteen,  to  whom 
were  referred  various  resolutions  relating  to 
California,  to  other  portions  of  the  territory 
recently  acquired  by  the  United  States  from 
the  Republic  of  Mexico,  and  to  other  subjects 
connected  with  the  institution  of  Slavery,  have, 
according  to  order,  had  these  resolutions  and 
subjects  under  consideration,  and  beg  leave  to 
submit  the  follow  ing  Report: 

The  Committee  entered  on  the  discharge  of 
their  duties  with  a  deep  sense  of  their  great  im 
portance,  and  with  earnest  and  anxious  solicitude 
to  arrive  at  such  conclusions  as  might  be  satis 
factory  to  the  Senate  and  to  the  country.  Most 
of  the  matters  referred  have  not  only  been  sub 
jected  to  extensive  and  serious  public  discussion 
throughout  the  country,  but  to  a  debate  in  the 
Senate  itself,  singular  for  its  elaborateness  and 
its  duration  ;  so  that  a  full  exposition  of  all  those 
motives  and  views  which,  on  several  subjects 
confided  to  the  Committee,  have  determined  the 
conclusions  at  which  they  have  arrived,  seems 
quite  unnecessary.  They  will,  therefore,  restrict 
themselves  to  a  few  general  observations,  and  to 
some  reflections  which  grow  out  of  those  sub 
jects. 

Out  of  our  recent  territorial  acquisitions,  and 
in  connection  with  the  institution  of  Slavery, 
questions  most  grave  sprung,  which,  greatly  di 
viding  and  agitating  the  people  of  the  United 
States,  have  threatened  to  disturb  the  harmony, 
if  not  to  endanger  the  safety,  of  the  Union.  The 
Committee  believe  it  to  be  highly  desirable  and 
necessary  speedily  to  adjust  all  those  questions, 
in  a  spirit  of  concord,  and  in  a  manner  to  pro 
duce,  if  practicable,  general  satisfaction.  They 
think  it  would  be  unwise  to  leave  any  of  them 
open  and  unsettled,  to  fester  in  the  public  mind, 
and  to  prolong,  if  not  aggravate,  the  existing 
agitation.  It  has  been  their  object,  therefore,  in 
this  Report,  to  make  such  proposals  and  recom 
mendations  as  would  accomplish  a  general  ad 
justment  of  all  these  questions. 

Among  the  subjects  referred  to  the  Committee 
which  command  their  first  attention,  are  the  reso 
lutions  offered  to  the  Senate  by  thp  Senator  from 


Tennessee,  Mr.  Bell.  By  a  provision  in  the 
resolution  of  Congress  annexing  Texas  to  the 
United  States,  it  is  declared  that  "  new  States  of 
convenient  size,  not  exceeding  four  in  number, 
by  the  consent  of  said  State,  be  formed  out  of 
the  territory  thereof,,  which  shall  be  entitled  to 
admission,  under  the  provisions  of  the  Federal 
Constitution :  and  such  States  as  may  be  formed 
out  of  that  portion  of  said  territory  lying  South 
of  36°  30'  North  latitude,  commonly"  known  as 
the  Missouri  Compromise  line,  shall  be,  admitted 
into  the  Union  with  or  without  Slavery,  as  the 
people  of  each  State  asking  admission  may  de 
sire." 

The  Committee  are  unanimously  of  opinion, 
that  whenever  one  or  more  States,  formed  out 
of  the  territory  of  Texas,  not  exceeding  four, 
having  sufficient  population,  with  the  consent  of 
Texas,  may  apply  to  be  admitted  into  the  Union, 
they  are  entitled  to  such  admission,  beyond  all 
doubt,  upon  the  clear,  unambiguous,  and  absolute 
terms  of  the  solemn  compact  contained  in  the 
Resolution  of  Annexation  adopted  by  Congress, 
and  assented  to  by  Texas.  But,  whilst  the  Com 
mittee  conceive  that  the  right  of  admission  into 
the  Union  of  any  new  State,  carved  out  of  the 
Territory  of  Texas,  not  exceeding  the  number  spe 
cified,  and  under  the  conditions  stated,  cannot  be 
justly  controverted,  the  Committee  do  not  think 
that  the  formation  of  any  new  States  should  now 
originate  with  Congress.  The  initiative,  in  con 
formity  with  the  usage  which  has  hitherto  pre 
vailed,  should  be  taken  by  a  portion  of  the  peo 
ple  of  Texas  themselves,  desirous  of  constituting 
a  new  State,  with  the  consent  of  Texas.  And  in 
the  formation  of  such  new  States,  it  will  be  for 
the  people  composing  it  to  decide  for  themselves 
whether  they  will  admit,  or  whether  they  will  ex 
clude,  Slavery.  And  however  they  may  decide 
that  purely  municipal  question,  Congress  is  bound 
to  acquiesce,  and  to  fulfill  in  good  i'aith  the  stipu 
lations  of  the  compact  with  Texas.  The  Commit 
tee  are  aware  that  it  has  been  contended  that  the 
resolution  of  Congress  annexing  Texas  was  un 
constitutional.  At  a  former  epoch  of  our  coun 
try's  history,  there  were  those  (and  Mr.  Jefferson, 
under  whose  auspices  the  treaty  of  Louisiana 
was  concluded,  was  among  them,)  who  believed 
that  the  States  formed  out  of  Louisiana  could  not 
be  received  into  the  Union  without  an  amend 
ment  of  the  constitution.  But  the  States  of  Loui 
siana,  Missouri,  Arkansas,  and  Iowa  have  been 
all,  nevertheless,  admitted.  And  who  would  now 
think  of  opposing  Minnesota,  Oregon,  or  new 
States  formed  out  of  the  ancient  province  of 
Louisiana,  upon  the  ground  of  an  alleged  original 
defect  of  constitutional  power  ?  In  grove  nation 
al  transactions,  while  yet  in  their  earlier  or  in 
cipient  stages,  differences  may  well  exist ;  but 
when  once  they  have  been  decided  by  a  constitu 
tional  majority,  and  are  consummated,  or  in  a 
process  of  consummation,  there  can  be  no  other 
safe  and  prudent  alternative  than  to  respect  the 
decision  already  rendered,  find  to  acquiesce  in  it. 
Entertaining  these  views,  a  majority  of  the  Com 
mittee  do  not  think  it  necessary  or  proper  to  re 
commend,  at  this  time,  or  prospectively,  any  new 
State  or  States  to  be  formed  out  of  the  territory 
of  Texas.  Should  any  such  State  be  hereafter 
formed,  and  present  itself  for  admission  into  tho 
Union,  whether  with  or  without  the  establishment 
of  Slavery,  it  cannot  be  doubted  that  Congress  will 
admit  it,  under  the  influence  of  similar  considera 
tions,  in  rc-gard  to  new  States  formed  of  or  out  of 
New-Mexico  and  Utah,  with  or  without  the  insti 
tution  of  Slavery,  according  to  the  constitutions 
and  judgment  of  the  people  who  compose  them, 
as  to  what  may  be  best  to  promote  their  happi 
ness. 

In  considering  the  question  of  the  admission 
of  California  as  a  State  into  the  Union,  a  rnajori- 


THE  COMPROMISE  OF  1850. 


fll 


ty  of  the  Committee  conceive  that  any  irregu 
larity,  by  which  that  State  was  organized  without 
the  previous  authority  of  an  act  of  Congress, 
ought  to  be  overlooked,  in  consideration  of  the 
omission  by  Congress  to  establish  any  territorial 
government  for  the  people  of  California,  and  the 
consequent  necessity  which  they  were  under  to 
create  a  government  for  themselves,  best  adapted 
to  their  own  wants.  There  are  various  instances, 
prior  to  the  case  of  California,  of  the  admission 
of  new  States  into  the  Union  without  any  pre 
vious  authorization  by  Congress.  The  sole  con 
dition  required  by  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States,  in  respect  to  the  admission  of  anew  State, 
is,  that  its  constitution  shall  be  republican  in 
form.  California  presents  such  a  constitution ; 
and  there  is  no  doubt  of  her  having  a  greater 
population  than  that  which,  according  to  the 
practice  of  the  government,  has  been  heretofore 
deemed  sufficient  to  receive  a  new  State  into  the 
Union. 

In  regard  to  the  proposed  boundaries  of  Cali 
fornia,  the  Committee  would  have  been  glad  if 
there  existed  more  full  and  accurate  geographi 
cal  knowledge  of  the  territory  which  these  bound 
aries  include.  There  is  reason  to  believe  that, 
large  as  they  are,  they  embrace  no  very  dispro 
portionate  quantity  of  land  adapted  to  cultiva 
tion.  And  it  is  known  that  they  contain  exten 
sive  ranges  of  mountains,  deserts  of  sand,  and 
much  unproductive  soil.  It  might  have  been, 
perhaps,  better  to  have  assigned  to  California  a 
more  limited  front  on  the  Pacific ;  but  even  if 
there  had  been  reserved,  on  the  shore  of  that 
ocean,  a  portion  of  the  boundary  which  it  presents, 
for  any  other  State  or  States,  it  is  not  very 
certain  that  an  accessible  interior  of  sufficient 
extent  could  have  been  given  to  them  to  render 
an  approach  to  the  ocean,  through  their  own  lim 
its,  of  very  great  importance. 

A  majority  of  the  Committee  think  that  there 
are  many  and  urgent  concurring  considerations 
in  favor  of  admitting  California,  with  the  pro 
posed  boundaries,  and  of  securing  to  her  at  this 
time  the  benefits  of  a  State  government.  If, 
hereafter,  upon  an  increase  of  her  population,  a 
more  thorough  exploration  of  her  territory,  and 
an  ascertainment  of  the  relations  which  may 
arise  between  the  people  occupying  its  various 
parts,  it  should  be  found  conducive  to  their  con 
venience  and  happiness  to  foim  a  new  State  out 
of  California,  we  have  every  reason  to  believe, 
from  past  experience,  that  the  question  of  its  ad 
mission  will  be  fairly  considered  and  justly  de 
cided. 

A  majority  of  the  Committee,  therefore,  recom 
mend  to  the  Senate  the  passage  of  the  bill  re 
ported  by  the  Committee  on  Territories,  for  the 
admission  of  California  as  a  State  into  the  Union. 
To  prevent  misconception,  the  Committee  also 
recommend  that  the  amendment  reported  by  the 
same  Committee  to  the  bill  be  adopted,  so  as  to 
leave  incontestable  the  right  of  the  United  States 
to  the  public  domain  and  other  public  property 
of  California. 

Whilst  a  majority  of  the  Committee  believe  it 
to  be  necessary  and  proper,  under  actual  circum 
stances,  to  admit  California,  they  think  it  quite 
as  necessary  and  proper  to  establish  governments 
for  the  residue  of  the  territory  derived  from  Mex 
ico,  and  to  bring  it  within  the  pale  of  the  federal 
authority.  The  remoteness  of  that  territory  from 
the  seat  of  the  general  government ;  the  dispersed 
state  of  its  population  ;  the  variety  of  races— pure 
and  mixed — of  which  it  consists  ;  the  ignorance 
of  some  of  the  races  of  our  laws,  language,  and 
habits  ;  their  exposure  to  inroads  and  wars  of 
savage  tribes  ;  and  the  solemn  stipulations  of  the 
treaty  by  which  we  acquired  dominion  over  them 
— impose  upon  the  United  States  the  imperative 
obligation  of  extending  to  them  protection,  and 


of  providing  for  them  government  and  laws  suit 
ed  to  their  condition.  Congress  will  fail  in  the 
performance  of  a  high  duty,  if  it  do  not  give, 
or  attempt  to  give  to  them,  the  benefit  of  such 
protection,  government,  and  laws.  They  are  not 
now,  and  for  a  long  time  to  come  may  not  be,  pre 
pared  for  State  government.  The  territorial 
form,  for  the  present,  ia  best  suited  to  their  condi 
tion.  A  bill  has  been  reported  by  the  Committee 
on  Territories,  dividing  all  the  territory  acquired 
from  Mexico,  not  comprehended  within  the  limits 
of  California,  into  two  territories,  under  the  names 
of  New-Mexico  and  Utah,  and  proposing  for  each 
a  territorial  government. 

The  Committee  recommend  to  the  Senate  the 
establishment  of  those  territorial  governments  ; 
and,  in  order  more  certainly  to  secure  that  desira 
ble  object,  they  also  recommend  that  the  bill 
for  their  establishment  be  incorporated  in  the  bill 
for  the  admission  of  California,  and  that,  united 
together,  they  both  be  passed. 

The  combination  ot  the  two  measures  in  the 
same  bill  is  objected  to  on  various  grounds.  It 
is  said  that  they  are  incongruous,  and  have  no 
necessary  connection  with  each  other.  A  majority 
of  the  Committee  think  otherwise.  The  object 
of  both  measures  is  the  establishment  of  a  govern 
ment  suited  to  the  conditions,  respectively^  of 
the  proposed  new  State  and  of  the  new  Territo 
ries.  Prior  to  their  transfer  to  the  United  States, 
they  both  formed  a  part  of  Mexico,  where  they 
stood  in  equal  relations  to  the  government  of  that 
republic.  They  were  both  ceded  to  the  United 
States  by  the  same  treaty.  And,  in  the  same  ar 
ticle  of  that  treaty,  the  United  States  engaged  to 
protect  and  govern  both.  Common  in  their  ori 
gin,  common  in  their  alienation  from  one  for 
eign  government  to  another,  common  in  their 
wants  of  good  government,  and  conterminous  in 
some  of  their  boundaries,  and  alike  in  many  par 
ticulars  of  physical  condition,  they  have  nearly 
everything  in  common  in  the  relation  in  which 
they  stand  to  the  rest  of  this  Union.  There  is,  then, 
a  general  fitness  and  propriety  in  extending  the 
parental  care  of  government  to  both  in  common. 
If  California,  by  a  sudden  and  extraordinary  aug 
mentation  of  population,  has  advanced  so  rapidly 
as  to  mature  for  herself  a  State  Government,  that 
furnishes  no  reason  why  the  less  fortunate  Territo 
ries  of  New-Mexico  and  Utah  should  be  aban 
doned  and  left  ungoverned  by  the  United  States, 
or  should  be  disconnected  with  California,  which, 
although  she  has  organized  for  herself  a  State 
Government,  must,  legally  and  constitutionally, 
be  regarded  as  a  Territory  until  she  is  actually 
admitted  as  a  State  into  the  Union. 

It  is  further  objected  that,  by  combining  the 
two  measures  in  the  same  bill,  members  wrho 
may  be  willing  to  vote  for  one,  and  unwilling  to 
vote  fur  the  other,  would  be  placed  in  an  embar 
rassing  condition.  They  would  be  constrained,  it 
is  urged,  to  take  or  reject  both.  On  the  other  hand, 
there  are  other  members  who  would  be  willing 
to  vote  for  both  united,  but  would  feel  them 
selves  constrained  to  vote  against  the  California 
bill  if  it  stood  alone.  Each  party  finds  in  the  bill 
which  it  favors  something  which  commends  it  to 
acceptance,  and  in  the  other  something  which  it 
disapproves.  The  true  ground,  therefore,  of  the 
objection  to  the  union  of  the  measures  is  not 
any  want  of  affinity  between  them,  but  because 
of  the  favor  or  disfavor  with  which  they  are  re 
spectively  regarded.  In  this  conflict  of  opinion, 
if  seems  to  a  majority  of  the  Committee  that  a 
spirit  of  mutual  concession  enjoins  that  the  two 
measures  should  be  connected  together— the  ef 
fect  of  which  will  be,  that  neither  opinion  will 
exclusively  triumph,  and  that  both  may  find,  in 
such  an  amicable  arrangement,  enough  of  good 
to  reconcile  them  to  the  acceptance  of  the  com 
bined  measure.  And  such  a  course  of  legisla- 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  SLAVERY  RESTRICTION. 


tion  is  not  at  all  unusual.  Few  laws  have  ever 
passed  in  which  there  were  not  parts  to  which 
exception  wag  taken.  It  is  inexpedient,  if  not 
impracticable,  to  separate  these  parts,  and  em 
body  them  in  distinct  bills,  so  as  to  accommodate 
the  diversity  of  opinion  which  may  exist.  The 
Constitution  of  the  United  States  contained  in 
it  a  great  variety  of  provisions,  to  some  of  which 
serious  objection  was  made  in  the  convention 
which  formed  it,  by  different  members  of  that 
body  ;  and,  when  it  was  submitted  to  the  ratifica 
tion  of  the  States,  some  of  them  objected  to  some 
parts,  and  others  to  other  parts,  of  the  same  instru 
ment.  Had  these  various  parts  and  provisions 
been  separately  acted  on  in  the  convention,  or 
separately  submitted  to  the  people  of  the  United 
States,  it'is  by  no  means  certain  that  the  Consti 
tution  itself  would  ever  have  been  adopted  or 
ratified.  Those  who  did  not  like  particular  pro 
visions  found  compensation  in  other  parts  ot  it. 
And  in  all  cases  of  constitution  and  laws,  when 
either  i«  presented  as  a  whole,  the  question  to 
be  decided  is,  whether  the  good  which  it  contains 
is  not  of  greater  amount,  and  capable  of  neutraliz 
ing  anything  objectionable  in  it.  And,  as  nothing 
human  is  perfect,  for  the  sake  of  that  harmony  so 
desirable  in  such  a  confederacy  as  this,  we  must 
be  reconciled  to  secure  as  much  as  we  can  of  what 
we  wish,  and  be  consoled  by  the  reflection  that 
what  we  do  not  exactly  like  is  a  friendly  conces 
sion,  and  agreeable  to  those  who,  being  united 
with  us  in  a  common  destiny,  it  is  desirable, 
should  always  live  with  us  in  peace  and  con 
cord. 

A  majority  of  the  Committee  have,  therefore, 
been  led  to  the  recommendation  to  the  Senate 
that  the  two  measures  be  united.  The  bill  for 
establishing  the  two  Territories,  it  will  be  observ 
ed,  omits  the  Wilmot  proviso  on  the  one  hand, 
and,  on  the  other,  makes  no  provision  for  the  in 
troduction  of  Slavery  into  any  part  of  the  new 
Territories. 

That  proviso  has  been  the  fruitful  source  of 
distraction  and  agitation.  If  it  were  adopted  and 
applied  to  any  Territory,  it  would  cease  to  have 
any  obligatory  force  as  soon  as  such  Territory 
were  admitted  as  a  State  into  the  Union.  There 
was  never  any  occasion  for  it  to  accomplish  the 
professed  object  with  which  it  was  originally 
offered.  This  has  been  clearly  demonstrated  by 
the  current  of  events.  California,  of  all  the  re 
cent  territorial  acquisitions  from  Mexico,  was  that 
in  which,  if  anywhere  within  them,  the  introduc 
tion  of  Slavery  was  most  likely  to  take  place ;  and 
the  constitution  of  California,  by  the  unanimous 
vote  ot  her  convention,  has  expressly  interdicted 
it.  There  is  the  highest  degree  of  probability 
that  Utah  and  New-Mexico  will,  when  they  come 
to  be  admitted  as  States,  follow  the  example.  The 
proviso  is,  as  to  all  those  regions  in  common,  a 
mere  abstraction.  Why  should  it  be  any  longer 
insisted  on  ?  Totally  destitute  as  it  is  of  any 
practical  import,  it  has,  nevertheless,  had  the  per 
nicious  effect  to  excite  serious,  if  not  alarming, 
consequences.  It  is  high  time  that  the  wounds 
which  it  has  inflicted  should  bo  healed  up  and 
closed.  And,  to  avoid,  in  all  future  time,  the 
agitations  which  must  be  produced  by  the  conflict 
of  opinion  on  the  Slavery  question,  existing  as 
this  institution  does  in  some  of  the  States,  and 
prohibited  as  it  is  in  others,  the  true  principle 
which  ought  to  regulate  the  action  of  Congress 
in  forming  Territorial  Governments  for  each 
newly -acquired  domain,  is  to  refrain  from  all 
legislation  on  the  subject  in  the  Territory  ac 
quired,  so  long  as  it  retains  the  Territorial  form 
of  Government — leaving  it  to  the  people  of  such 
Territory,  when  they  have  attained  to  the  condi 
tion  which  entitles  them  to  admission  as  a  State, 
to  decide  for  themselves  the  question  of  the  allow 
ance  or  prohibition  of  domestic  Slavery.  The 


Committee  believe  that  they  express  the  anxious 
desire  of  an  immense  majority  of  the  people  of 
the  United  States,  when  they  declare  that  it  ia 
high  time  that  good  feeling,  harmony,  and  frater 
nal  sentiment  should  be  again  revived,  and  that 
the  Government  should  be  able  once  more  to  pro 
ceed  in  its  great  operations  to  promote  the  happi 
ness  and  prosperity  of  the  country,  undisturbed 
by  this  distracting  cause. 

As  for  California — far  from  seeing  her  sensi 
bility  affected  by  her  being  associated  with  other 
kindred  measures— she  ought  to  rejoice  and  be 
highly  gratified  that,  in  entering  into  the  Union, 
she  may  have  contributed  to  the  tranquillity  and 
happiness  of  the  great  family  of  States,  of  which, 
it  is  to  be  hoped,  she  may  one  day  be  a  distin 
guished  member. 

The  Committee  beg  leave  next  to  report  on 
the  subject  of  the  Northern  and  Western  bound 
ary  of  Texas.  On  that  question  a  great  diversity 
of  opinion  has  prevailed.  According  to  one  view 
of  it,  the  western  limit  of  Texas  was  the  Nueces  ; 
according  to  another,  it  extended  to  the  Rio 
Grande,  and  stretched  from  its  mouth  to  its 
source.  A  majority  of  the  Committee  having 
come  to  the  conclusion  of  recommending  an  ami 
cable  adjustment  of  the  boundary  with  Texas, 
abstain  from  expressing  any  opinion  as  to  the 
true  and  legitimate  western  and  northern  bound 
ary  of  that  State.  The  terms  proposed  for  such 
an  adjustment  are  contained  in  the  bill  herewith 
reported,  and  they  are,  with  inconsiderable  varia 
tion,  the  same  as  that  reported  by  the  Committee 
on  Territories. 

According  to  these  terms,  it  is  proposed  to 
Texas  that  her  boundary  be  recognized  to  the  Rio 
Grande,  and  up  that  river  to  the  point  commonly 
called  El  Paso,  and  thence  running  up  that  river 
twenty  miles,  measured  thereon  by  a  straight 
line,  and  thence  eastwardly  to  a  point  where  the 
hundredth  degree  of  west  longitude  crosses  Red 
River;  being  the  southwest  angle  in  the  line  de 
signated  between  the  United  States  and  Mexico, 
and  the  same  angle  in  the  line  of  the  territory  set 
apart  for  the  Indians  by  the  United  States. 

If  this  boundary  be  assented  to  by  Texas, 
she  will  be  quieted  to  that  extent  in  her  title.  And 
some  may  suppose  that,  in  consideration  of  this 
concession  by  the  United  States,  she  might,  with 
out  any  other  equivalent,  relinquish  any  claim 
she  has  beyond  the  proposed  boundary  ;  that  is, 
any  claim  to  any  part  of  New-Mexico.  But, 
under  the  influence  of  sentiments  of  justice  and 
great  liberality,  the  bill  proposes  to  Texas,  for 
her  relinquishment  of  any  such  claim,  a  large  pe 
cuniary  equivalent.  As  a  consideration  for  it, 
and  considering  that  a  portion  of  the  debt  of 
Texas  was  created  on  a  pledge  to  her  creditors  of 
the  duties  on  foreign  imports,  transferred  by  the 
resolution  of  Annexation  to  the  United  States, 
and  now  received  and  receivable  in  her  treasury, 
a  majority  of  the  Committee  recommend  the  pay 
ment  of  the  sum  of millions  of  dollars  to 

Texas,  to  be  applied  in  the  first  instance  to  the 
extinction  of  that  portion  of  her  debt  for  the  re 
imbursement  of  which  the  duties  on  foreign  im 
ports  were  pledged  as  aforesaid,  and  the  residue 
in  such,  manner  as  she  may  direct.  The  sum  is 
to  be  paid  by  the  United  States,  in  a  stock,  to  be 
created,  bearing  five  per  cent,  interest  annually, 
payable  half-yearly,  at  the  treasury  of  the  United 
States,  and  the  principal  reimbursable  at  the  end 
of  fourteen  years. 

According  to  an  estimate  which  has  been 
made,  there  are  included  in  the  territory  to  which 
it  is  proposed  that  Texas  shall  relinquish  her 
claim,  embracing  that  part  of  New-Mexico  lying 
east  of  the  Rio  Grande,  a  little  less  than  124,933 
square  miles,  and  about  79,957,120  acres  of  land. 
From  the  proceeds  of  the  sale  of  this  land,  the 
United  States  may  ultimately  be  reimbursed  a 


TEE  COMPROMISE  OP  1850. 


G3 


portion,  if  not  the  whole,  of  tlie  amount  of  what 
is  thus  proposed  to  be  advanced  to  Texas. 

It  cannot  be  anticipated  that  Texas  will  de 
cline  to  accede  to  theee  liberal  propositions  ;  but 
if  she  should,  it  is  to  be  distinctly  understood  that 
the  title  of  the  United  States  to  any  territory  ac 
quired  from  Mexico  east  of  the  Rio  Grande  will 
remain  unimpaired,  and  in  the  same  condition  as 
if  the  proposals  of  adjustment  now  offered  had 
never  been  made. 

A  majority  of  the  Committee  recommend  to 
the  Senate  that  the  section  containing  these  pro 
posals  to  Texas  shall  be  incorporated  into  the 
bill  embracing  the  admission  of  California  as  a 
State,  and  the  establishment  of  territorial  govern 
ments  for  Utah  and  New-Mexico.  The  definition 
and  establishment  of  the  boundary  between  New- 
Mexico  and  Texas  have  an  intimate  and  neces 
sary  connection  with  the  establishment  of  a  ter 
ritorial  government  for  New-Mexico.  To  form  a 
territorial  government  for  New- Mexico,  without 
prescribing  the  limits  of  the  Territory,  would 
leave  the  work  imperfect  and  incomplete,  and 
might  expose  New-Mexico  to  serious  controversy, 
if  not  dangerous  collisions,  with  the  State  of 
Texas.  And  most,  if  not  all,  the  considerations 
which  unite  in  favor  of  combining  the  bill  for  the 
admission  of  California  as  a  State  and  the  Territo 
rial  bills,  apply  to  the  boundary  question  of  Tex 
as.  By  the  union  of  the  three  measures,  every 
question  of  difficulty  and  division  which  has 
arisen  out  of  the  territorial  acquisitions  from 
Mexico,  will,  it  is  hoped,  be  adjusted,  or  placed 
in  a  train  of  satisfactory  adjustment.  The  Com 
mittee,  availing  themselves  of  the  arduous  and 
valuable  labors  of  the  Committee  on  Territories, 
report  a  bill,  herewith  annexed,  (marked  A,)  em 
bracing  those  three  measures,  the  passage  of 
which,  uniting  them  together,  they  recommend 
to  the  Senate. 

The  Committee  will  now  proceed  to  the  con 
sideration  of,  and  to  report  upon,  the  subject  of 
persons  owing  service  or  labor  in  one  State  es 
caping  into  another.  The  text  of  the  Constitution 
is  quite  clear :  "  No  person  held  to  labor  or  service 
in  one  State,  under  tke  laws  thereof,  escaping  into 
another,  shall,  in  consequence  of  any  law  or  regu 
lation  therein,  be  discharged  from  such  service  or 
labor,  but  skall  be  delivered  vp  on  the  claim  of 
the  party  to  whom  such  service  or  labor  is  due." 
Nothing  can  be  more  explicit  than  this  language 
— nothing  more  manifest  than  the  right  to  demand, 
and  the  obligation  to  deliver  up  to  the  claimant, 
any  such  fugitive.  And  the  Constitution  address 
es  itself  alike  to  the  States  composing  the  Union 
and  to  the  General  Government.  If,  indeed, 
there  were  any  difference  in  the  duty  to  enforce 
this  portion  of  the  Constitution  between  the 
States  and  the  Federal  Government,  it  is  more 
clear  that  it  is  that  of  the  former  than  of  the  lat 
ter.  But  it  is  the  duty  of  both.  It  is  well  known 
and  incontestable  that  citizens  of  slaveholding 
States  encounter  the  greatest  difficulty  in  obtain 
ing  the  benefit  of  this  provision  of  the  Constitu 
tion. 

The  attempt  to  recapture  a  fugitive  is  almost 
always  a  subject  of  great  irritation  and  excite 
ment,  and  often  leads  to  most  unpleasant,  if  not 
perilous,  collisions.  An  owner  of  a  slave,  it  is 
quite  notorious,  cannot  pursue  his  property,  for 
the  purpose  of  its  recovery,  in  some  of  the  States, 
without  imminent  personal  hazard.  This  is  a 
deplorable  state  of  things,  which  ought  to  be  re 
medied.  The  law  of  1793  has  been  found 
wholly  ineffectual,  and  requires  more  stringent 
enactments.  There  is  especially  a  deficiency  in 
the  number  of  public  functionaries  authorized  to 
afford  aid  in  the  seizure  and  arrest  of  fugitives. 
Various  States  have  declined  to  afford  aid  and 
cooperation  in  the  surrender  of  fugitives  from 
labor,  as  the  Committee  believe,  from  a  miscon 


ception  of  their  duty,  arising  under  the  Constitu 
tion  of  the  United  States.  It  is  true  that  a  deci 
sion  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States 
has  given  countenance  to  them  in  withholding 
their  assistance.  But  the  Committee  cannot  but 
believe  that  the  intention  of  the  Supreme  Court 
has  been  misunderstood.  They  cannot  but  think 
that  that  Court  merely  meant  that  laws  of  the 
several  States,  which  created  obstacles  in  tho 
way  of  the  recovery  of  fugitives,  were  not  au 
thorized  by  the  Constitution,  and  not  that  the 
State  laws  affording  facilities  in  the  recovery  of 
fugitives  were  forbidden  by  that  instrument.  The 
non -slaveholding  States,  whatever  sympathies 
any  of  their  citizens  may  feel  for  persons  who 
escape  from  other  States,  cannot  discharge  them 
selves  from  an  obligation  to  enforce  the  Constitu 
tion  of  the  United  States.  All  parts  of  the  instru 
ment  being  dependent  upon,  and  connected  with, 
each  other,  ought  to  be  fairly  and  justly  enforced. 
If  some  States  may  seek  to  exonerate  them 
selves  from  one  portion  of  the  Constitution,  other 
States  may  endeavor  to  evade  the  performance 
of  the  other  portions  of  it ;  and  thus  the  instru 
ment,  in  some  of  the  most  important  provisions, 
might  become  inoperative  and  invalid. 

But,  whatever  may  be  the  conduct  of  indivi 
dual  States,  the  duty  of  the  General  Government 
is  perfectly  clear.  That  duty  is,  to  amend  the 
existing  law,  and  provide  an  effectual  remedy  for 
the  recovery  of  fugitives  from  service  or  labor. 
In  devising  such  a  remedy,  Congress  ought, 
whilst,  on  the  one  hand,  securing  to  the  owner 
the  fair  restoration  of  his  property,  effectually  to 
guard,  on  the  other,  against  any  abuses  in  the  ap 
plication  of  that  remedy. 

In  fill  cases  of  arrest,  within  a  State,  of  persons 
charged  with  offenses ;  in  all  cases  of  the  pursuit 
of  fugitives  from  justice  from  one  State  to  an 
other  Sttite  ;  in  all  cases  of  extradition,  provided 
for  by  treaties  between  foreign  powers — the  pro 
ceeding  uniformly  is  summary.  It  has  never 
been  thought  necessary  to  apply,  in  cases  of  that 
kind,  the  forms  and  ceremonies  of  a  final  trial. 
And,  when  that  trial  does  take  place,  it  is  in  the 
State  or  country  from  which  the  party  has  fled, 
and  not  in  that  in  which  he  has  found  refuge.  By 
the  express  language  of  the  Constitution,  whether 
the  fugitive  is  held  to  service  or  labor,  or  not,  is 
to  be  determined  by  tke  laws  of  tke  State  from 
wkick  ke  Jlcd  ;  and,  consequently,  it  is  most  pro 
per  that  the  tribunals  of  that  State  should  ex 
pound  and  administer  its  own  laws.  If  there 
nave  been  any  instances  of  abuse,  in  the  errone 
ous  arrest  of  fugitives  from  service  or  labor,  the 
Committee  have  not  obtained  knowledge  of  them. 
They  believe  that  none  have  occurred,  and  that 
such  are  not  likely  to  occur.  But,  in  order  to 
guard  against  the  possibility  of  their  occurrence, 
the  committee  have  prepared,  and  herewith  re 
port,  a  section,  (marked  B,)  to  be  offered  to  the 
fugitive  b;ll  now  before  the  Senate.  According  to 
this  section,  the  owner  of  a  fugitive  from  service 
or  labor  is,  when  practicable,  to  carry  with  him 
to  the  State  in  which  the  person  is  found  a  record 
from  a  competent  tribunal,  adjudicating  the  fact 
of  elopement  and  slavery,  with  a  general  de 
scription  of  the  fugitive.  This  record,  properly 
attested  and  certified  under  the  official  seal  of  the 
court,  being  taken  to  the  State  where  the  person 
owing  service  or  labor  is  found,  is  to  be  held 
competent  and  sufficient  evidence  of  the  facts 
which  had  been  adjudicated,  and  will  leave  no 
thing  more  to  be  done  than  to  identify  the  fugi 
tive. 

Numerous  petitions  have  been  presented  pray 
ing  for  a  trial  by  jury,  in  the  case  of  arrest  of 
fugitives  from  service  or  labor  in  the  non-slave- 
holding  States.  It  has  been  already  shown  that 
this  would  be  entirely  contrary  to  practice  and 
uniform  usage  in  all  similar  cases.  Under  the 


C4 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  SLAVERY   RESTRICTION. 


name  of  a  popular  and  cherished  institution — an 
institution,  however,  never  applied  in  cases  of 
preliminary  proceeding,  and  only  in  cases  of 
final  trial — there  would  be  a  complete  mockery 
of  justice,  BO  far  as  the  owner  of  the  fugitive  is 
concerned.  If  the  trial  by  jury  be  admitted,  it 
would  draw  after  it  its  usual  consequences  ;  of 
continuance  from  time  to  time,  to  bring  evidence 
from  distant  places ;  of  second  or  new  trials,  in 
cases  where  the  jury  is  hung,  or  the  verdict  is 
set  aside  ;  and  of  revisals  of  the  verdict  and  con 
duct  of  the  juries  by  competent  tribunals.  Dur 
ing  the  progress  of  all  these  dilatory  and  expen 
sive  proceedings,  what  security  is  there  as  to  the 
custody  and  forthcoming  of  the  fugitive  upon 
their  termination  ?  And  if,  finally,  the  claimant 
should  be  successful,  contrary  to  what  happens 
in  ordinary  litigation  between  free  persons,  he 
would  have  to  bear  all  the  burdens  and  expenses 
of  the  litigation,  without  indemnity,  and  would 
learn,  by  sad  experience,  that  he  had  by  far  bet 
ter  abandon  his  right  in  the  first  instance,  than 
to  establish  it  at  such  unremunerated  cost  and 
heavy  sacrifice. 

But,  whilst  the  Committee  conceive  that  a  trial 
by  jury  in  a  State  where  a  fugitive  from  service 
or  labor  is  recaptured,  would  be  a  virtual  denial 
of  justice  to  the  claimant  of  such  fugitive,  and 
would  be  tantamount  to  a  positive  refusal  to  exe 
cute  the  provision  of  the  Constitution,  the  same 
objections  do  not  apply  to  such  a  trial  in  the  State 
from  which  he  fled.  In  the  slaveholding  States. 
full  justice  is  administered,  with  entire  fairness 
and  impartiality,  in  cases  of  all  actions  for  free 
dom.  The  person  claiming  his  freedom  is  allowed 
to  sue  in  forma  pauperis ;  counsel  is  assigned 
him  ;  time  is  allowed  him  to  collect  his  witnesses 
and  to  attend  the  sessions  of  the  court;  and  his 
claimant  is  placed  under  bond  and  security,  or  is 
divested  of  the  possession  during  the  progress  of 
the  trial,  to  insure  the  enjoyment  of  these  privi 
leges  ;  and,  if  there  be  any  leaning  on  the  part 
of  courts  and  juries,  it  is  always  to  the  side  of 
the  claimant  for  freedom. 

In  deference  to  the  feelings  and  prejudices 
which  prevail  in  nou-slaveholding  States,  the 
Committee  propose  such  a  trial  in  the  State  from 
which  the  fugitive  fled,  in  all  cases  where  he  de 
clares  to  the  officer  giving  the  certificate  for  his 
return  that  he  has  a  right  to  his  freedom.  Ac 
cordingly,  the  Committee  have  prepared,  and 
report  herewith,  (marked  C),  two  sections  which 
they  recommend  should  be  incorporated  in  the 
fugitive  bill,  pending  in  the  Senate.  According 
to  these  sections,  the  claimant  is  placed  under 
bond,  and  required  to  return  the  fugitive  to  that 
county  in  the  State  from  which  he  fled,  and  there 
to  take  him  before  a  competent  tribunal,  and  al 
low  him  to  assert  and  establish  his  freedom, 
if  he  can,  affording  to  him  for  that  purpose  all 
needful  facilities. 

The  Committee  indulge  the  hope  that  if  the 
Fugitive  bill,  with  the  proposed  amendments, 
shall  be  passed  by  Congress,  it  will  be  effectual 
to  secure  the  recovery  of  all  fugitives  from  ser 
vice  or  labor,  and  it  will  remove  all  causes  of 
complaint  which  have  hitherto  been  experienced 
on  that  irritating  subject.  But.  if  in  its  practi 
cal  operation  it  shall  be  found  insufficient,  and  if 
no  adequate  remedy  can  be  devised  for  the  res 
toration  to  their  owners  of  fugitive  slaves,  those 
owners  shall  have  a  just  title  to  indemnity  out 
of  the  Treasury  of  the  United  States. 

It  remains  to  report  upon  the  resolutions  in 
relation  to  Slavery  and  the  Slave-Trade  in  the 
District  of  Columbia.  Without  discussing  the 
power  of  Congress  to  abolish  Slavery  within  the 
District,  in  regard  to  \vhich  a  diversity  of  opin 
ion  exists,  the  Committee  are  of  opinion  that  it 
ought  not  to  be  abolished.  It  could  not  be  done 
without  indispensable  conditions,  which  are  not 


likely  to  be  agreed  to.  It  could  not  be  done  with 
out  exciting  great  apprehension  and  alarm  in  tho 
Slave  States.  If  the  power  were  exercised  with 
in  this  District,  they  would  apprehend  that,  under 
some  pretext  or  another,  it  might  hereafter  be 
attempted  to  be  exercised  within  the  slaveholding 
States.  It  is  true  that,  at  present,  all  such  power 
within  those  States  is  almost  unanimously  disa 
vowed  and  disclaimed  in  the  Free  States.  But,  ex 
perience  in  public  affairs  has  too  often  shown 
that  where  there  is  a  desire  lo  do  a  particular 
thing,  the  power  to  accomplish  it.  sooner  or  later, 
will  be  found  or  assumed. 

Nor  does  the  number  of  Slaves  within  the  Dis 
trict  make  the  abolition  of  Slavery  an  object  of 
any  such  consequence  as  appears  to  be  attached 
to  it  in  some  parts  of  the  Union.  Since  the  retro 
cession  of  Alexandria  county  to  Virginia  on  the 
south  side  of  the  Potomac,  the  District  now  con 
sists  only  of  Washington  county  on  the  north 
side  of  that  river  ;  and  the  returns  of  the  decen 
nary  enumeration  of  the  people  of  the  United 
States  show  a  rapidly  progressing  decrease  in 
the  number  of  slaves  in  Washington  county. 
According  to  the  census  of  1830,  the  number  was 
4,505  ;  and  in  1840,  it  was  reduced  to  3,3:20  ;  show 
ing  a  reduction  in  ten  years  of  nearly  one-third. 
If  it  should  continue  in  the  same  ratio,  the  num 
ber,  according  to  the  census  now  about  to  be 
taken,  will  be  only  a  little  upward  of  two  thou 
sand. 

But  a  majority  of  the  Committee  think  differ 
ently  in  regard  to  the  Slave-Trade  within  the 
District.  By  that  trade  is  meant  the  introduc 
tion  of  slaves  from  adjacent  States  into  the  Dis 
trict,  for  sale,  or  to  be  placed  in  depot  for  the 
purpose  of  subsequent  sale  or  transportation  to 
other  and  distant  markets.  That  trade,  a  majori 
ty  of  the  Committee  are  of  opinion,  ought  to  be 
abolished.  Complaints  have  always  existed 
against  it,  no  less  on  the  part  of  members  of 
Congress  from  the  South  than  on  the  part  of 
members  from  the  North.  It  is  a  trade  some 
times  exhibiting  revolting  spectacles,  and  one  in 
which  the  people  of  the  District  have  no  inter 
est,  but,  on  the  contrary,  are  believed  to  be  de 
sirous  that  it  should  be  discontinued.  Most,  if 
not  all,  of  the  slaveholding  States  have,  either  in 
their  constitutions  or  by  penal  enactments,  pro 
hibited  a  trade  in  slaves  as  merchandise  within 
their  respective  jurisdictions.  Congress,  stand 
ing  in  regard  to  this  District,  on  this  subject,  in 
a  relation  similar  to  that  of  the  State  Legislatures, 
to  the  people  of  the  States,  may  safely  follow  the 
example  of  the  States.  The  Committee  have  pre 
pared,  and  herewith  report,  a  bill  for  the  aboli 
tion  of  that  trade  (marked  D),  the  ^passage  of 
which  they  recommend  to  the  Senate.  This  bill 
has  been  framed  after  the  model  of  what  the  law 
of  Maryland  was  when  the  General  Government 
was  removed  to  Washington. 

The  views  and  recommendations  contained  in 
this  report  may  be  recapitulated  in  a  few  words : 

1.  The  admission  of  any  new  State  or  States 
formed  out  of  Texas  to  be  postponed  until  they 
shall  hereafter  present  themselves  to  be  received 
into  the  Union,  when  it  will  be  the  duty  of  Con 
gress  fairly  and  faithfully   to   execute  the  com 
pact  with  Texas,  by  admitting  such  new  State  or 
States ; 

2.  The  admission  forthwith  of  California  into 
the  Union,  with  tho  boundaries  which  she  has  pro 
posed  ; 

3.  The  establishment  of  territorial  governments, 
without  the  Wilmot  Proviso,    for  New-Mexico 
and  Utah,  embracing  all  tho  territory  recently 
acquired  by  the  United  States  from  Mexico,  not 
contained  in  the  boundaries  of  California ; 

4.  The  combination  of  these  two  last-mention 
ed  measures  in  the  same  bill ; 

5.  The  establishment  of  the  western  and  north- 


THE  COMPROMISE  OF   1850. 


65 


ern  boundaries  of  Texas,  and  the  exclusion  from 
her  jurisdiction  of  all  New-Mexico,  with  the 
grant  to  Texas  of  a  pecuniary  equivalent ;  and 
the  section  for  that  purpose  to  be  incorporated  in 
the  bill  admitting  California  and  establishing  ter 
ritorial  governments  for  Utah  and  New-Mex 
ico  ; 

6.  More  effectual  enactments  of  law  to  secure 
the  prompt  delivery  of  persons  bound  to  service 
or   labor  in  one  State,  under  the  laws  thereof, 
who  escape  into  another  State  ;  and, 

7.  Abstaining  from  abolishing  Slavery;   but, 
under  a  heavy  penalty,  prohibiting  the  slave-trade 
in  the  District  of  Columbia. 

If  such  of  these  several  measures  as  require 
legislation  should  be  carried  out  by  suitable  acts 
of  Congress,  all  controversies  to  which  our  late 
territorial  acquisitions  have  given  rise,  and  all 
existing  questions  connected  with  the  institution 
of  Slavery,  whether  resulting  from  those  acquisi 
tions,  or  from  its  existence  in  the  States  and  the 
District  of  Columbia,  will  be  amicably  settled 
and  adjusted,  in  a  manner,  it  is  confidently  be 
lieved,  to  give  general  satisfaction  to  an  over 
whelming  majority  of  the  people  of  the  United 
States.  Congress  will  have  fulfilled  its  whole 
duty  in  regard  to  the  vast  country  which,  hav 
ing  been  ceded  by  Mexico  to  the  United  States, 
has  fallen  under  their  dominion.  It  will  have 
extended  to  it  protection,  provided  for  its  several 
parts  the  inestimable  blessing  of  free  and  regular 
government,  adapted  to  their  various  wants,  and 
placed  the  whole  under  the  banner  and  the  flag 
of  the  United  States.  Meeting  courageously  its 
clear  and  entire  duty.  Congress  will  escape  the 
unmerited  reproach  of  having,  from  considera 
tions  of  doubtful  policy,  abandoned  to  an  unde 
served  fate  territories  of  boundless  extent,  with  a 
sparse,  incongruous,  and  alien,  if  not  unfriendly 
population,  speaking  different  languages,  and 
accustomed  to  different  laws,  whilst  that  popula 
tion  is  making  irresistible  appeals  to  the  new 
sovereignty  to  which  they  have  been  transferred 
for  protection,  for  government,  for  law,  and  for 
order. 

The  Committee  have  endeavored  to  present  to 
the  Senate  a  comprehensive  plan  of  adjustment, 
which,  removing  all  causes  of  existing  excite 
ment  and  agitation,  leaves  none  open  to  divide 
the  country  and  disturb  the  general  harmony. 
The  nation  has  been  greatly  convulsed,  not  by 
measures  of  general  policy,  but  by  questions  of 
a  sectional  character,  and,  therefore,  more  dan 
gerous,  and  more  to  be  deprecated.  It  wants  re- 
ne.  It  loves  and  cherishes  the  Union.  And  it 
aost  cheering  and  gratifying  to  witness  the 
outbursts  of  deep  and  abiding  attachment  to  it, 
which  have  been  exhibited  in  all  parts  of  it, 
amidst  all  the  trials  through  which  we  have  pass 
ed,  and  are  parsing.  A  people  so  patriotic  as 
those  of  the  United  States,  will  rejoice  in  an  ac 
commodation  of  all  troubles  and  difficulties  by 
which  the  safety  of  that  Union  might  have  been 
brought  into  the  least  danger.  And,  under  the 
blessing  of  that  Providence  who,  amidst  all  vicis 
situdes,  has  never  ceased  to  extend  to  them  His 
protecting  care,  His  smiles,  His  blessings,  they 
will  continue  to  advance  in  population,  power, 
and  prosperity,  and  work  out  triumphantly  the 
glorious  problem  of  man's  capacity  for  self-gov 
ernment. 


The  Senate  proceeded  to  debate  from  day  to 
day  the  provisions  of  the  principal  bill  thus 
reported,  commonly  termed  "  the  Omnibus." 

June  28th. — Mr.  Soule  of  Louisiana  moved 
that  all  south  of  36°  30''  be  cut  off  from  Cali 
fornia,  and  formed  into  a  territory  entitled 
South  California,  and  that  said  territory 


"  shall,  when  ready,  able,  and  willing  to  be 
come  a  State,  and  deserving  to  be  such,  be  ad 
mitted  with  or  without  Slavery,  as  the  people 
thereof  shall  desire,  and  make  known  through 
their  Constitution." 

This  was  rejected  :  Yeas  19  (all  Southern); 
Nays  36'. 

July  IQth. — The  discussion  was  interrupted 
by  the  death  of  President  Taylor.  Millard 
Fillmore  succeeded  to  the  Presidency,  and 
William  K.  King  of  Alabama  was  chosen 
President  of  the  Senate,  pro  tempore. 

July  Ifrh.— The  bill  was  reported  to  the 
Senate  and  amended  so  as  to  substitute  "  that 


Nays  25. 

Mr.  Seward  moved  to  add  at  the  end  of 
the  37th  section  : 

''  But  neither  Slavery  nor  involuntary  servi 
tude  shall  be  allowed  in  either  of  the  Territories 
of  New-Mexico  or  Utah,  except  on  legal  convic 
tion  for  crime." 

Which  was  negatived  ;  Yeas  and  Nays  not 
taken. 

July  1*1  th. — The  Senate  resumed  the  con 
sideration  of  the  ''Omnibus  bill." 

Mr.  Benton  moved  a  change  in  the  pro 
posed  boundary  between  Texas  and  New- 
Mexico.  Rejected  :  Yeas  18  ;  Nays  36. 

Mr.  Foote  moved  that  the  34th  parallel  of 
north  latitude  be  the  northern  boundary 
of  Texas  throughout.  Lost  :  Yeas  20  ; 
Nays  34. 

July  I9tk. — Mr.  King  moved  that  the 
parallel  of  35°  30'  be  the  southern  boundary 
of  the  State  of  California.  Rejected  :  Yeas 
20;  Nays  37. 

Mr.  Davis  of  Mississippi  moved  36°  30'. 
Rejected  :  Yeas  23  ;  Nays  32. 

July  23d. — Mr.  Turney  of  Tenu.  moved 
that  the  people  of  California  be  enabled  to 
form  a  new  State  Constitution.  Lost  : 
Yeas  19  ;  Nays  33. 

Mr.  Jeff.  Davis  of  Mississippi  moved  to 
add: 

"And  that  all  laws  and  usages  existing  in  said 
Territory,  at  the  date  of  its  acquisition  by  the 
United  States,  which  deny  or  obstruct  the  right 
of  any  citizen  of  the  United  States  to  remove 
to,  and  reside  in,  said  Territory,  with  any  species 
of  property  legally  held  in  any  of  the  States  of 
this  Union,  be,  and  are  hereby  declared  to  be,' 
null  and  void." 

This  was  rejected  :  Yeas  22  ;  Nays  33. 

YEAS — For  Davis' s  amendment: 


Messrs.  Atchison,  Mo. 

Barnwell,  S.  C. 
Bell,  Tenrt. 
Berrien,  &&. 
Butler,  S.  C. 
Clemens,  Ala. 
Davis.  Miss. 
Dawson,  Ga. 
Downs,  La. 
Houston,  Texas, 
Hunter,  Va. 


King,  Ala. 
Mangum,  N.  C. 
Maeon,  Va. 
Morton,  Fla. 
Pratt,  Aid. 
Rusk,  Texas, 
Sebastian,  Ark. 
SouJe,  La. 
Turney,  Tenn. 
Underwood,  Ky. 
Yulee,  Fla.— 22. 


66 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  SLAVERY   RESTRICTION. 


NAYS — Against  Davis's  amendment  : 

Messrs.  Badger,  N.  C.  Foote,  Miss. 

Baldwin,  Conn.  Greene,  R.  I. 

Benton,  Mo.  Hale,  N.  H. 

Bradbury,  Me.  Hamlin,  Me. 

Bright,  Ind.  Jones,  Iowa, 

Cass,  Mich.  Miller,  N.  J. 

Chase,  Ohio.  Norris,  N.  H. 

Clarke,  R.  I.  Pearce,  Md. 

Clay,  Ky.  Seward,  N.  Y. 

Cooper,  Pa.  Shields,  111. 

Davis,  Mass.  Smith,  Conn. 

Dayton,  N.  J  Spruance,  Del. 

Dickinson,  N.  Y.  Sturgeon,  Pa. 

Dodge,  Wise.  Upham,  Vt. 

Dodge,  Iowa,  Wales,  Del. 

Felch,  Mich.  Walker,  Wise. 
Whitcomb,  Ind.— 33. 

July  24th.— Mr.  Busk  moved  that  the 
Rio  Grande  del  Norte  be  the  western  bound 
ary  of  Texas  throughout,  as  defined  in  her 
statute  of  limits.  Rejected  :  Yeas  18  (all 
Southern) ;  Nays  34  (Douglas  not  voting). 

July  25th. — Mr.  Hale  moved  that  the  true 
boundary  of  Texas  be  ascertained  and  con 
formed  to,  without  prejudice  on  account  of 
anything  contained  in  this  bill.  Rejected  : 
Yeas  23  ;  Nays  30. 

Mr.  Benton  moved  an  amendment  intended 
to  exclude  from  Texas  every  portion  of  New- 
Mexico.  Rejected  :  Yeas  16  ;  Nays  38. 

July  26th. — Mr.  Seward  moved  that 
New-Mexico  be  admitted  as  a  State  into 
the  Union.  Rejected  :  Yeas  1  (Seward)  ; 
Nays  42. 

July  29th. — Mr.  Dayton  of  N.  J.  moved 
that  the  true  northern  boundary  of  Texas  be 
ascertained  and  settled  by  an  amicable  suit 
before  the  Supreme  Court.  Rejected  :  Yeas 
18  ;  Nays  34. 

Mr.  Mason  of  Virginia  moved  that  the  pro 
posed  commissioners  to  settle  the  boundary 
of  Texas  be  authorized,  in  case  the  true  legal 
boundary  be  found  impracticable,  to  agree  on 
and  fix  a  convenient  compromise  boundary. 
Lost,  by  a  tie  :  Yeas  29  ;  Nays  29. 

Mr.  Turney  moved  that  no  pecuniary  con 
sideration  be  given  for  any  change  from  the 
rightful  boundary  of  Texas.  Rejected  :  Yeas 
20  ;  Nays  31. 

July  30th.— Mr.  Walker  of  Miss,  moved 
that  this  bill  do  lie  on  the  table.  Lost : 
Yeas  25  ;  Nays  32. 

Mr.  Dawson  of  Ga.  now  moved  the  fol 
lowing  additional  section  : 

"  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That,  until  such 
time  as  the  boundary  line  between  the  State  of 
Texas  and  the  territory  of  the  United  States  be 
agreed  to  by  the  Legislature  of  the  State  of 
Texas  and  the  government  of  the  United  States, 
the  Territorial  government  authorized  by  this 
act  shall  not  go  into  operation  east  of  the  Rio 
Grande,  nor  shall  any  State  bo  established  for 
New-Mexico,  embracing  any  territory  east  of  the 
Kio  Grande." 

This  prevailed  by  the  following  vote— 30 
to  28— and  gave  the  death-blow  to  the 
«  Omnibus  Bill." 


YEAS — For  Dawson's  amendment, 


Messrs.  Atchison, 
Badger, 
Barnwell, 
Bell, 
Berrien, 
Butler, 
Clay, 
Clemens, 
Cooper, 
Davis,  Miss. 
Dawson, 
Dickinson, 
Dodge,  Iowa, 
Downs, 
Foote, 


Houston, 

Hunter, 

Jones, 

King, 

Mangum, 

Mason, 

Morton, 

Phelps, 

Pratt, 

Rusk, 

Sebastian, 

Soule, 

Sturgeon, 

Turney, 

Yulee— 30. 


NA  YS — Against  Dawson' s  amendment 


Baldwin, 

Benton, 

Bradbury, 

Bright, 

Chase, 

Clarke, 

Davis,  Mass. 

Dayton, 

Dodge  of  Wise. 

Douglas, 

Ewing, 

Felch, 

Greene, 

Hale, 


Hamlin, 

Miller, 

Norris, 

Pearce, 

Seward, 

Shields, 

Smith, 

Spruance, 

Underwood, 

Upham, 

Wales, 

Walker, 

Whitcomb, 

Winthrop— 28. 


Mr.  Bradbury's  amendment,  thus  amend 
ed,  prevailed  by  a  similar  vote :  Yeas  30  ; 
Nays  28. 

[It  provided  for  the  appointment  of  com 
missioners  to  determine,  in  connection  with 
commissioners  to  be  chosen  by  Texas,  the 
Northern  boundary  of  that  State.] 

July  31s?.— Mr.  Norris  of  N.  H.  moved 
to  strike  from  the  bill  the  words,  "  nor  estab 
lishing  nor  prohibiting  African  Slavery" 
(which  words  deny  to  the  Territorial  Legis 
latures  the  power  to  establish  or  prohibit 
Slavery) .  Carried  :  Yeas  32  ;  Nays  20. 
(Nays  all  Southern,  but  Ewing  of  Ohio  and 
Whitcomb  of  Ind. — Cass,  Clay,  Dayton, 
Dickinson,  Douglas,  Seward,  etc.,  in  the 
affirmative.) 

Mr.  Pearce  of  Md.  now  moved  to  strike 
from  the  bill  so  much  thereof  as  provides  a 
Territorial  Government  for  New- Mexico, 
and  for  settling  the  boundary  between  her 
and  Texas.  Carried  :  Yeas  33  (including 
all  the  opponents  of  a  compromise,  whether 
from  the  North  or  the  South,  and  all  those 
averse  to  paying  Texas  ten  millions  of  dol 
lars  for  relinquishing  her  pretensions  to  ab 
sorb  New-Mexico,  with  some  who  would 
not  vote  in  this  conjunction  for  the  portions 
of  "the  Omnibus"  severally  disapproved  of ;) 
Nays  22  : 

YEA  S — For  breaking  up  "  the  Omnibus'1 : 


Messrs.  Baldwin, 
Barnwell, 
Benton, 
Berrien, 
Butler, 
Chase, 
Clarke, 
Davis,  Mass. 
Davis,  Miss. 


Hunter, 

Mason, 

Miller, 

Morton, 

Pearce, 

Phelps, 

Seward, 

Shields, 

Smith, 


THE  COMPROMISE  OF   1850. 


67 


Dayton, 

Dodge,  Wise. 

Douglas, 

Ewing, 

Greene, 

Hale, 

Hainlin, 


Soule, 
Turney, 
Underwood , 
Upham. 

wr 


ales, 
Walker, 
Wintiirop, 
Yulee— 33. 


NAYS — Against  breaking  up 
nibus"  : 


the  Om- 


Messrs.  Atchison, 
Badger, 
Bright, 
Case, 
Clay, 
Clemens, 
Dawson, 
Dickinson, 


Houston, 

Jones, 

King, 

Man  gram, 

Norns, 

Pratt, 

Rusk, 

Sebastian, 


Dodge  of  Iowa,    Spruance, 
Downs,  Sturgeon, 

Foote,  Whitcomb— 22. 

Mr.  Pearce  moved  a  substitute  for  the 
sections  so  stricken  out. 

Mr.  Hale  moved  that  the  bill  be  postponed 
indefinitely.  Negatived  :  Yeas  27  ;  Nays  32. 

Mr.  Douglas  moved  an  amendment  to  Mr. 
Pearce's  substitute,  providing  that  the  Ter 
ritorial  Government  thereby  provided  for 
New-Mexico  shall  not  go  into  operation 
until  the  boundary  of  Texas  be  adjusted. 
Lost :  Yeas  24  ;  Nays  33. 

Mr.  Turney  of  Tenn.  moved  that  the  bill 
be  indefinitely  postponed.  Lost :  Yeas  29  ; 
Nays  30. 

Mr.  Underwood  of  Ky.  moved  to  strike 
out  so  much  of  Mr.  Pearce's  substitute  as 
postponed  the  organization  of  a  Territorial 
Government  in  New-Mexico  to  the  4th  of 
March  ensuing.  Lost  :  Yeas  25  ;  Nays  32. 

Mr.  Yulee  moved  to  strike  out  so  much 
of  said  substitute  as  provided  for  the  ap 
pointment  of  commissioners  to  settle  the 
boundary  between  Texas  and  New-Mexico, 
and  with  it  the  section  just  struck  at  by 
Mr.  Underwood.  Carried :  Yeas  29  ; 
Nays  28. 

Mr.  Chase  now  moved  that  the  bill  be 
postponed  indefinitely  :  Lost ;  Yeas  28  ; 
Nays  29. 

The  Senate  now  refused  to  adopt  Mr. 
Pearce's  substitute  as  amended  :  Yeas  25  ; 
Nays  28. 

Mr.  Davis  of  Miss,  moved  a  new  boundary 
line  for  Utah,  which  was  rejected  :  Yeas  22  ; 
Nays  34. 

Mr.  Walker  moved  to  strike  out  all  that 
remained  of  the  bill  except  so  much  as  pro 
vides  for  the  admission  of  California  :  Lost ; 
Yeas  22  ;  Nays  33. 

Mr.  Phelps  of  Vt.  moved  the  indefinite 
postponement  of  the  bill :  Lost :  Yeas  28  ; 
Nays  30. 

Mr.  Atchison  of  Mo.  moved  to  strike 
out  so  much  of  the  bill  as  relates  to  Califor 
nia  :  Lost  by  a  tie  ;  Yeas  29  ;  Nays  29. 

Mr.  Winthrop  of  Mass,  moved  a  recon 
sideration  of  this  vote :  Carried  ;  Yeas  33; 
Nays  26. 


Mr.  Clemens  of  Alabama  moved  that  the 
bill  be  postponed  to  the  next  session  :  Lost ; 
Yeas  25  ;  Nays  30, 

Mr.  Atchison's  reconsidered  motion,  to 
strike  California  out  of  the  bill,  now  pre 
vailed  :  Yeas  34  ;  Nays  25. 

_  The  bill  being  now  reduced  so  as  to  pro 
vide  merely  for  the  organization  of  the  Ter- 
tory  of  Utah,  Mr.  Douglas  proposed  to 
amend  so  as  to  make  its  southern  boundary 
the  parallel  of  36°  30'  instead  of  38°  north 
latitude  :  Lost ;  Yeas  26  ;  (all  Southern 
but  Dickinson  of  N.  Y.  and  Douglas  of 
III.)  Nays  27  ;  (all  Northern  but  Spruance 
and  Wales  of  Delaware— Mr.  Clay  not  pres 
ent). 

After  some  further  attempts  to  amend, 
adjourn,  etc.,  the  bill,  providing  only  for  the 
organization  of  the  Territory  of  Utah,  was 
passed  to  its  third  reading :  Yeas  32  ;  Nays 
18.  [Nays  all  Northern  but  Bell  of  Ten 
nessee.] 

Aug.  1st. — Said  bill  passed  its  third  read 
ing  without  a  division. 

Mr.  Douglas  now  called  up  the  original 
bill  providing  for  the  admission  of  Califor 
nia,  which  was  again  made  a  special 
order. 

Aug.  Ind. — Mr.  Foote  of  Miss,  again 
moved  "  that  the  line  of  36°  30'  be  the 
southern  boundary  of  said  State  :  Lost ; 
Yeas  23  (all  Southern)  ;  Nays  33. 

Aug.  6th. — Mr.  Turney  moved  "  that  the 
line  of  36°  30',  commonly  known  as  the  Mis 
souri  Compromise  line ,  be,  and  the  same 
hereby  is,  extended  to  the  Pacific  ocean." 
He  proposed  to  admit  California  with  one 
representative,  on  her  assent,  by  convention, 
to  this  boundary;  rejected:  Yeas  24  (all 
Southern);  Nays,  32  (includingBenton,  Un 
derwood,  Walker,  Spruance,  and  Wales, 
from  Slave  States  ;  the  rest  Northern). 

Various  motions  to  adjourn,  postpone,  etc., 
were  now  made  and  voted  down  ;  finally, 
the  Senate  was,  by  the  withdrawal  of  South 
ern  Members,  left  without  a  quorum,  and 
adjourned. 

Aug.  *lth. — The  game  of  moving  to  post 
pone,  adjourn,  etc.,  consumed  all  this  day 
also. 

Meantime  (August  5th),  Mr.  Pearce  of 
Md.  had  introduced  a  bill  to  settle  the 
Northern  and  Western  boundaries  of  Texas, 
(a  part  of  the  old  overturned  "  Omnibus/') 
which  was  also  sent  to  the  Committee  of 
the  Whole. 

Aug.  6th. — President  Fillmore  sent  a 
Message  announcing  that  Gov.  Bell  of  Texas 
had  notified  the  Government  of  his  deter 
mination  to  extend  the  authority  and  juris 
diction  of  Texas  over  all  New-Mexico  east 
of  the  Rio  Grande.  The  President  consid 
ers  himself  bound  to  resist  this  pretension 
— if  necessary,  by  force — does  not  believe 
anything  would  be  effected  by  commission 
ers  to  adjust  the  boundary,  as  the  facts  in 


68 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  SLAVERY  RESTRICTION. 


the  case  are  already  generally  understood, 
but  intimates  that — 

"  The  Government  of  the  United  States  would 
be  justified,  in  my  opinion,  in  allowing  an  indem 
nity  to  Texas,  not  unreasonable  or  extravagant, 
but  fair,  liberal,  and  awarded  in  a  just  spirit  of 
accommodation." 

He  urges  Congress  not  to  adjourn  without 
settling  this  boundary  question,  and  says  : 

"  I  think  no  event  would  be  hailed  with  more 
gratification  by  the  people  of  the  United  States 
than  the  amicable  adjustment  of  questions  of 
difficulty  which  have  now  for  a  long  time  agi 
tated  the  country,  and  occupied,  to  the  exclusion 
of  other  subjects,  the  time  and  attention  of  Cou- 


The  Texas  boundary  bill  being  now  put 
ahead  of  the  bill  admitting  California,  Mr. 
Dayton  moved  (Aug.  8th),  that  Texas  be 
required  to  cede  her  public  lands  to  the 
United  States  in  consideration  of  the  pay 
ment  to  her  of  $10,000,000  herein  given  her 
for  the  relinquishment  of  her  claim  to  New- 
Mexico.  After  the  United  States  shall 
have  been  repaid  the  $10,000,000  out  of 
the  proceeds  of  these  lands,  the  residue  to 
revert  to  Texas  :  Rejected ;  Yeas  17  (all 
Northern)  ;  Nays  32. 

Aug.  9th. — Mr.  Underwood  moved  that 
the  Northern  boundary  of  Texas  run  due 
east  from  a  point  on  the  Rio  Grande,  twen 
ty  miles  above  El  Paso,  to  the  Red  River 
of  Louisiana :  Rejected ;  Yeas  24 ;  (all 
Northern,  but  Wales,  Spruance,  and  Under 
wood  ;)  Nays  25. 

Mr.  Mason  of  Va.  moved  the  giving  up 
to  Texas  of  all  New-Mexico  east  of  the  Rio 
Grande  :  Lost :  Yeas  14 ;  Nays  37. 

Mr.  Sebastian  moved  that  the  (INew- 
Mexican)  Territory,  surrendered  by  Texas  in 
pursuance  of  the  provisions -of  this  bill,  shall 
be  admitted  in  due  time  as  a  State,  with  or 
without  Slavery,  as  its  people  may  deter 
mine  :  Rejected:  Yeas  19  ;  (all  Southern  but 
Dodge  of  Iowa  ;)  Nays  29 — (including  Bad 
ger  of  N.  C.,  Cass  and  Dickinson — Clay 
absent — Douglas,  who  voted  just  before  and 
just  after,  did  not  vote  on  this.) 

The  bill  was  now  engrossed  :  Yeas  27  ; 
Nays  24 ;  and  finally  passed  :  Yeas  30  ; 
Nays  20. 

Aug.  10th. — The  California  bill  was  now 
taken  up.  Mr.  Yulee  of  Fla.  moved  a  sub 
stitute,  remanding  California  to  a  territorial 
condition,  and  limiting  her  southern  bound 
ary  :  Rejected ;  Yeas  12  (all  Southern)  ; 
Nays  35. 

Mr.  Foote  moved  a  like  project,  cutting 
off  so  much  of  California  as  lies  south  of 
36  deg.  30  min.,  and  erecting  it  into  the 
territory  of  Colorado  :  Rejected  ;  Yeas  13 
(ultra  Southern)  ;  Nays  29. 

Aug.  12th. — Still  another  proposition  to 
limit  California  southwardly,  by  the  line  of 
36  deg.  30  min.,  was  made  by  Mr.  Turney, 
and  rejected:  Yeas  20  (all  Southern);  Nays 
30.  After  defeating  Southern  motions  to 


adjourn,  postpone,  and  lay  on  the  table,  the 
bill  was  engrossed  for  a  third  reading : 
Yeas  33  ;  (all  the  Senators  from  Free  States, 
with  Bell,  Benton,  Houston,  Spruance, 
Wales  and  Underwood ;)  Nays  19 ;  (all 
from  Slave  States.  Mr.  Clay  still  absent — 
endeavoring  to  restore  his  failing  health.) 

Aug.  13th. — The  California  bill  passed 
its  third  reading  :  Yeas  34  ;  Nays  18  ;  (all 
Southern.) 

Aug.  14:th. — The  Senate  now  took  up  the 
bill  organizing  the  Territories  of  New- 
Mexico  and  Utah,  (as  it  was  originally  re 
ported,  prior  to  its  inclusion  in  Mr.  Clay's 
"  Omnibus.") 

Mr.  Chase  of  Ohio  moved  to  amend  the 
bill  by  inserting  : 

"  Nor  shall  there  be  in  said  Territory  either 
Slavery  or  involuntary  servitude,  otherwise  than 
in  the  punishment  of  crimes  whereof  the  party 
shall  have  been  duly  convicted  to  have  been 
personally  guilty." 

Which  was  rejected  :  Yeas  20  ;  Nays  25. 

YEAS— For  Prohibiting  Slavery  : 

Messrs.  Baldwin,  Hamlin, 

Bradbury,  Miller, 

Bright,  Norris, 

Chase,  Phelps, 

Cooper,  Shields, 

Davis,  of  Mass.  Smith, 

Dodge,  of  Wise.  Upham, 

Felch,  Walker, 

Greene,  Whitcomb, 

Hale,  Wiuthrop— 20. 

NAYS — Against  Prohibiting  Slavery: 


Messrs.  Atchison, 
Badger, 
Bell, 
Benton, 
Berrien, 
Cass, 

Davis  of  Miss. 
Dawson, 
Dodge  of  Iowa, 
Downs, 
Foote, 
Houston, 


Hunter, 

Jones, 

King, 

Mangum, 

Mason, 

Morton, 

Pratt, 

Eusk, 

Sebastian, 

Soule, 

Sturgeon, 

Underwood, 


Tates— 25. 

The  bill  was  then  reported  complete,  and 
passed  to  be  engrossed. 

Aug.  15th. — Said  bill  had  its  third  read 
ing,  and  was  finally  passed :  Yeas  27  ; 
Nays  1 0. 

[The  Senate  proceeded  to  take  up,  con 
sider,  mature,  and  pass  the  Fugitive  Slave 
bill,  and  the  bill  excluding  the  Slave-Trade 
from  the  District  of  Columbia ;  but  the 
history  of  these  is  but  remotely  connected 
with  our  theme.]  We  return  to  the  House. 


Aug.  19th — The  several  bills  which  we 
have  been  watching  on  their  tedious  and 
dubious  course  through  the  Senate,  having 
reached  the  House,  Mr.  William  J.  Brown 
of  Ind.  moved  that  they  be  taken  off  the 
Speaker's  table,  and  made  the  special  order 
for  to-morrow  :  Defeated  ;  Yeas  87  ;  Nays 
98. 


THE  COMPROMISE  OP  1850. 


Mr.  Ashman  of  Mass,  made  a  similar 
motion,  which  was  likewise  beaten :  Yeas 
94  ;  Nays  94. 

Aug.  28th.— The  California  bill  was  taken 
up,  read  twice,  and  committed. 

The  Texas  bill  coming  up,  Mr.  Inge  of 
Ala.  objected  to  it,  and  a  vote  was  taken  on 
its  rejection  :  Yeas  34 ;  Nays  168  ;  so  it 
was  not  rejected. 

Mr.  Boyd  of  Ky.  moved  to  amend  it  so 
as  to  create  and  define  thereby  the  territo 
ries  of  New-Mexico  and  Utah,  to  be  slave- 
holding  or  not  as  their  people  shall  deter 
mine  when  they  shall  come  to  form  State 
governments.  [In  other  words,  to  append 
the  bill  organizing  the  territory  of  New- 
Mexico  to  the  Texas  bill.] 

Mr.  Meade  of  Va.  raised  the  question  of 
order  ;  but  the  Speaker  ruled  the  amend 
ment  in  order,  and  his  ruling  was  sustained 
by  the  House  :  Yeas  122  ;  Nays  84. 

Aug.  29tk. — The  Texas  bill  was  taken 
up.  Mr.  Clingman  of  N.  C.  moved  to 
amend  so  as  to  limit  California  by  the  line 
of  36  deg.  30  min.,  and  establish  the  Terri 
tory  of  Colorado. 

The  Speaker  ruled  this  amendment  in  or 
der,  and  the  House  sustained  him — 122  to 
67.' 

Mr.  McClernand  of  111.  moved  the  bill  to 
the  Committee  of  the  Whole,  to  which  Mr. 
Boot  of  Ohio  moved  to  add  instructions,  to 
exclude  Slavery  from  all  the  Territory 
acquired  from  Mexico,  east  of  California 
(which  had  already  taken  care  of  itself). 

Sept.  2nd. — This  bill  was,  by  a  two-third 
vote,  made  a  special  order  henceforth. 

Sept.  3rd. — Mr.  McClernand  withdrew 
his  motion,  (and  Mr.  Root's  fell  with  it). 

Sept.  4th.— Mr.  E.  M.  McLane  called  the 
Previous  Question,  which  was  seconded,  and 
the  main  question  ordered. — Yeas  133  ;  Nays 
68. 

The  bill  was  then  committed  ;  Yeas  101 ; 
Nays  99. 

Mr.  Walden  of  N.  Y.  moved  a  reconsider 
ation. 

Mr.  Root  moved  that  this  do  lie  on  the 
table  :  Yeas  103  ;  Nays  103.  The  Speaker 
voted  Nay ;  so  the  motion  was  not  laid  on 
the  table. 

The  motion  to  reconsider  prevailed  :  Yeas 
104;  Nays  101.  The  House  then  refused 
to  commit :  Yeas  101 ;  Nays  103. 

Mr.  Clingman's  amendment,  creating  the 
Territory  of  Colorado  out  of  Southern  Cali 
fornia  and  Utah,  was  now  defeated  :  Yeas 
69  ;  Nays  130. 

Mr.  Boyd's  amendment  was  then  beaten  : 
Yeas  98;"  Nays  106. 

Mr.  Boyd  moved  a  reconsideration,  which 
prevailed  :  Yeas  131 ;  Nays  75. 

Mr.  Wentworth  of  111.  moved  to  commit 
the  bill,  with  instructions  to  provide  for  the 
exclusion  of  Slavery  from  all  the  territory 
ceded  by  Mexico  :  Lost :  Yeas  80  ;  Nays  119. 


Mr.  Tombs  of  Ga.  having  moved,  as  an 
amendment  to  Mr.  Boyd's,  that  the  Consti 
tution  of  the  United  States  and  such  statutes 
thereof  as  may  not  be  locally  inapplicable, 
and  the  common  law  as  it  existed  on  the 
4th  of  July,  1776,  should  be  the  exclusive 
laws  of  said  territory,  until  altered  by  the 
proper  authority,  it  was  voted  down  : 
Yeas  65  ;  Nays  132. 

Mr.  Boyd's  amendment  prevailed  :  Yeas 
107  ;  Nays  99. 

The  question  was  now  taken  on  the  en 
grossment  of  the  bill,  and  it  was  defeated  : 
Yeas  99  ;  Nays  107. 

Mr.  Howard  of  Texas  moved  a  recon 
sideration. 

The  Speaker  decided  it  out  of  order,  the 
bill  having  already  been  once  reconsidered. 

Mr.  Howard  appealed,  and  the  House 
overruled  the  Speaker's  decision  :  Yeas  (to 
sustain)  82  ;  Nays  124. 

The  vote  rejecting  the  bill  was  recon 
sidered  :  Yeas  ]  22  ;  Nays  84. 

Mr.  Howard  again  moved  the  Previous 
Question,  which  was  seconded,  and  the  Main 
Question  ordered  :  Yeas  115 ;  Nays  97  ; 
and  the  bill  was  ordered  to  a  third  reading  : 
Yeas  108  ;  Nays  98.  It  was  then  passed 
(as  amended  on  motion  of  Mr.  Boyd)  :  Yeas 
108 ;  Nays  97. 

Sept.  1th. — The  California  bill  now  came 
up.  Mr.  Boyd  moved  his  amendment  al 
ready  moved  to  the  Texas  bill.  Mr.  Vinton 
of  Ohio  declared  it  out  of  order.  The  Speak 
er  again  ruled  it  in  order.  Mr.  Vinton  ap 
pealed,  and  the  House  overruled  the  Speaker  : 
Yeas  (to  sustain)  87  ;  Nays  115. 

Mr.  Jacob  Thompson  of  Miss,  moved  to 
cut  off  from  California  all  below  36°  30' : 
Rejected  :  Yeas  76  ;  Nays  131. 

The  bill  was  now  ordered  to  a  third  read 
ing  :  Yeas  151  ;  Nays  57,  and  then  passed  : 
Yeas  150  ;  Nays  56  (all  Southern). 

The  Senate  bill  organizing  the  Territory 
of  Utah  (without  restriction  as  to  Slavery) 
was  then  taken  up,  and  rushed  through  the 
same  day  :  Yeas  97  ;  Nays  85.  [The  Nays 
were  mainly  Northern  Free  Soil  men  ;  but 
some  Southern  men,  for  a  different  reason, 
voted  with  them.] 

Sept.  9th. — The  House  having  returned 
the  Texas  Boundary  bill,  with  an  amend 
ment  (Linn  Boyd's),  including  the  bill  or 
ganizing  the  Territory  of  New-Mexico 
therein,  the  Senate  proceeded  to  consider 
and  agree  to  the  same :  Yeas  31 ;  Nays 
10,  namely : 

Ewing,  Ohio, 
Hamlin,  Me. 
Seward,  N.  Y. 

Davis,  Mass.  Upharn,  Vt. 

Dodge,  Wise.  Winthrop.  Mass. 

So  all  the  bills  originally  included  in  Mr. 
Clay's  "Omnibus"  were  passed— two  of 
them  in  the  same  bill — after  the  Senate  had 
once  voted  to  sever  them. 


Messrs.  Baldwin,  Conn. 
Benton.  Mo. 
Chase,  Ohio, 


70 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  SLAVERY  RESTRICTION. 


These  acts  are  substantially  as  follows  : 

ADMISSION  CF  CALIFORNIA. 

An  Act  for  the  admission  of  the  State  of  California 

into  the  Union. 

Whereas,  the  people  of  California  have  pre 
sented  a  Constitution  and  asked  admission  into 
the  Union,  which  constitution  was  submitted  to 
Congress  by  the  President  of  the  United  States, 
by  message,  dated  February  13th,  1850,  which, 
on  due  examination,  is  found  to  be  republican  in 
its  form  of  government — 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Rep 
resentatives  of  the  United  States  of  America 
in  Congress  assembled,  That  the  State  of  Cali 
fornia  shall  be  one,  and  is  hereby  declared  to  be 
one,  of  the  United  States  of  America,  and  ad 
mitted  into  the  Union  on  an  equal  footing  with 
the  original  States,  in  all  respects  whatever. 

SEC.  ±  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  until 
the  Representatives  in  Congress  shall  be  appor 
tioned  according  to  an  actual  enumeration  of  the 
inhabitants  of  the  United  States,  the  State  of 
California  shall  be  entitled  to  two  representatives 
in  Congress. 

SEC.  3.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  the 
said  State  of  California  is  admitted  into  the 
Union  upon  the  express  condition  that  the  people 
of  said  State,  through  their  legislature  or  other 
wise,  shall  never  interfere  with  the  primary  dis 
posal  of  the  public  lands  within  its  limits,  and 
shall  pass  no  law,  and  do  no  act,  whereby  the  title 
of  the  United  States  to,  and  right  to  dispose  of, 
the  same,  shall  be  impaired  or  questioned  ;  and 
they  shall  never  lay  any  tax  or  assessment  of  any 
description  whatsoever  on  the  public  domain 
of  the  United  States ;  and  in  no  case  shall 
non-resident  proprietors,  who  are  citizens  of 
the  United  States,  be  taxed  higher  than  resi 
dents  ;  and  that  all  the  navigable  waters  within 
the  said  State  shall  be  common  highways,  and 
for  ever  free,  as  well  to  the  inhabitants  of 
said  State  as  to  the  citizens  of  the  United  States, 
without  any  tax,  duty,  or  impost  therefor : 
Provided,  that  nothing  herein  contained  shall 
be  construed  as  recognizing  or  rejecting  the 
propositions  tendered  by  the  people  of  Cali 
fornia  as  articles  of  compact  in  the  ordinance 
adopted  by  the  Convention  which  formed  the 
constitution  of  that  State. 

Approved,  Sept.  9,  1850. 

THE  TEXAS  BOUNDARY. 

An  Act  proposing  to  the  State  of  Texas  the  establish 
ment  of  her  Northern  and  Western  Boundaries,  the 
relinquishraent  by  the  said  State  of  all  territory 
claimed  by  her  exterior  to  said  boundaries,  and  of 
all  her  claims  upon  the  United  States,  and  to  estab 
lish  a  Teiritonal  Government  for  New-Mexico. 
Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Rep 
resentatives  of  the    United  States   of  America 
in  Congress  assembled,  that  the  following  propo 
sitions  shall  be,  and  the  same  hereby  are,  offered 
to  the  State  of  Texas  ;  which,  when  agreed  to  by 
the  said  State,  in  an  act  passed  by  the  General 
Assembly,  shall  be  binding  and  obligatory  upon 
the  United  States,  and  upon  the  said  State  of 
Texas :  Provided,  That  said  agreement  by  the 
said  General  Assembly  shall  be  given  on  or  be 
fore  the  first  day  of  December,  eighteen  hundred 
and  fifty. 

First.— The  State  of  Texas  will  agree  that  her 
boundary  on  the  North  shall  commence  at  the 
point  at  which  the  meridian  of  one  hundred  de 
grees  west  from  Greenwich  is  intersected  by  the 
parallel  of  thirty-six  degrees,  and  thirty  minutes 
north  latitude,  and  shall  run  from  said  point  due 
west  to  the  meridian  of  one  hundred  and  three 
degrees  west  from  Greenwich  ;  hence  her  bound 
ary  shall  run  due  south  to  the  thirty-second  de 
gree  of  north  latitude  ;  thence  on  the  said  parallel 


of  thirty-two  degrees  of  north  latitude  to  the  Rio 
Bravo  del  Norte  ;  and  thence  with  the  channel  of 
said  river  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 

Second. — The  State  of  Texas  cedes  to  the 
United  States  all  her  claims  to  territories  exte 
rior  to  the  limits  and  boundaries,  which  she 
agrees  to  establish  by  the  first  article  of  thia 
agreement. 

Third.— The  State  of  Texas  relinquishes  all 
claim  upon  the  United  States  for  liability  for  the 
debts  of  Texas,  and  for  compensation  or  indem 
nity  for  the  surrender  to  the  United  States  of  her 
ships,  forts,  arsenals,  custom-houses,  custom 
house  revenue,  arms  and  munitions  of  war,  and 
public  buildings,  with  their  sites,  which  became 
the  property  of  the  United  States  at  the  time  of 
the  Annexation. 

Fourth. — The  United  States,  in  consideration 
of  said  establishment  of  boundaries,  cession  of 
claims  to  territory,  and  relinquishment  of  claims, 
will  pay  to  the  State  of  Texas  the  sum  of  ten 
millions  of  dollars,  in  a  stock  bearing  five  per 
cent,  interest,  and  redeemable  at  the  end  of  four 
teen  years,  the  interest  payable  half-yearly  at  the 
Treasury  of  the  United  States. 

Fifth. — Immediately  after  the  President  of  the 
United  States  shall  have  been  furnished  with  an 
authentic  copy  of  the  act  of  the  general  assembly 
of  Texas,  accepting  these  propositions,  he  shall 
cause  the  stock  to  be  issued  in  favor  of  the  State 
of  Texas,  as  provided  for  in  the  fourth  article  of 
this  agreement. 

Provided  also,  That  no  more  than  five  millions 
of  said  stock  shall  be  issued  until  the  creditors  of 
the  State,  holding  bonds  and  other  certificates 
of  stock  of  Texas,  for  which  duties  on  imports 
were  specially  pledged,  shall  first  file,  at  the 
treasury  of  the  United  States,  releases  of  all  claims 
against  the  United  States  for  or  on  account  of 
said  bonds  or  certificates,  in  such  form  as  shall 
be  prescribed  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 
and  approved  by  the  President  of  the  United 
States. 

ORGANIZATION   OF   NEW-MEXICO. 

The  second  section  of  this  act  enacts,  that  all 
that  portion  of  the  territory  of  the  United  States, 
bounded  as  follows,  to  wit:  beginning  at  a  point 
on  the  Colorado  river  where  the  boundary  line 
of  the  republic  of  Mexico  crosses  the  same ;  thence 
eastwardly  with  the  said  boundary  line  to  the 
Rio  Grande;  thence  following  the  main  channel 
of  said  river  to  the  parallel  of  the  thirty- 
second  degree  of  north  latitude ;  thence  eastwardly 
with  said  degree  to  its  intersection  with  the  one 
hundred  and  third  degree  of  longitude  west  from 
Greenwich ;  thence  north  with  said  degree  of 
longitude  to  the  parallel  of  the  thirty-eighth  de 
gree  of  north  latitude ;  thence  west  with  said 
parallel  to  the  summit  of  the  Sierra  Madre  ; 
thence  south  with  the  crest  of  said  mountains  to 
the  thirty-seventh  parallel  of  north  latitude ; 
thence  weet  with  the  said  parallel  to  its  intersec 
tion  with  the  boundary  line  of  the  State  of  Cali 
fornia  ;  thence  with  the  said  boundary  line  to  the 
place  of  beginning,  be,  and  the  same  is  hereby, 
erected  into  a  temporary  government  by  the 
name  of  the  Territory  of  New-Mexico  ;  Provided, 
That  nothing  in  this  act  contained  shall  be  con 
strued  to  inhibit  the  Government  of  the  United 
States  from  dividing  said  Territory  into  two  or 
more  territories,  in  such  manner  and  at  such 
times  as  Congress  shall  deem  convenient  and 
proper,  or  from  attaching  any  portion  thereof  to 
any  other  Territory  or  State  ;  Provided  further, 
That  when  admitted  as  a  State,  the  said  Territory, 
or  any  portion  of  the  same,  shall  be  received  into 
the  Union,  with  or  without  Slavery,  as  their 
Constitution  may  prescribe  at  the  time  of  their 
admission. 

The  eighteenth  section  enacts,  that  the  pro- 


THE  KANSAS-NEBRASKA  STRUGGLE. 


71 


visions  of  this  act  be  suspended  until  the  bound 
ary  between  the  United  States  and  the  State  of 
Texas  shall  be  adjusted,  and  when  such  adjust 
ment  shall  have  been  effected,  the  President  of 
the  United  States  shall  issue  his  proclamation 
declaring  this  act  to  be  in  full  force  and  opera 
tion,  and  shall  proceed  to  appoint  the  officers 
herein  provided  to  be  appointed  for  the  said 
Territory. 
Approved  Sept.  9,  1850. 

ORGANIZATION  OF  UTAH. 

An  Act  to  establish  a  Territorial  Government  for 
Utah. 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Re 
presentatives  of  the  United  States  of  America  in 
Congress  assembled.  That  all  that  part  of  the 
Territory  of  the  United  States  included  within 
the  following  limits,  to  wit :  bounded  on  the  west 
by  the  State  of  California,  on  the  north  by  the 
Territory  of  Oregon,  on  the  east  by  the  summit 
of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  on  the  south  by  the 
thirty-seventh  parallel  of  north  latitude,  be,  and 
the  same  is  hereby,  created  into  a  temporary 
government,  by  the  name  of  the  Territory  of 
Utah ;  and,  when  admitted  as  a  State,  the  said 
Territory,  or  any  portion  of  the  same,  shall  be 
received  into  the  Union,  with  or  without  Slave 
ry,  as  their  constitution  may  prescribe  at  the 
time  of  their  admission  ;  Provided,  That  nothing 
in  this  act  contained  shall  be  construed  to  pro 
hibit  the  government  of  the  United  States  from 
dividing  said  Territory  into  two  or  more  territo 
ries,  in  such  manner  and  at  such  time  as  Con 
gress  shall  deem  convenient  and  proper,  or  from 
attaching  any  portion  of  said  Territory  to  any 
other  State  or  Territory  of  the  United  States.  _ 

[The  act  proceeds  to  provide  for  the  appoint 
ment  of  a  territorial  governor,  secretary,  mar 
shal,  judges,  etc.,  etc.,  and  for  the  election  of  a 
council  of  thirteen,  and  a  house  of  representatives 
of  twenty-six  members ;  also  for  a  delegate  in 
Congress.  All  recognized  citizens  to  be  voters.] 

The  governor  shall  receive  an  annual  salary  of 
fifteen  hundred  dollars  as  governor,  and  one 
thousand  dollars  as  superintendent  of  Indian 
affairs.  The  chief  justice  and  associate  justices 
shall  each  receive  an  annual  salary  of  eighteen 
hundred  dollars.  The  secretary  shall  receive  an 
annual  salary  of  eighteen  hundred  dollars.  The 
said  salaries  shall  be  paid  quarter-yearly,  at  the 
Treasury  qf  the  United  States.  The  members  of 
the  legislative  assembly  shall  be  entitled  to  re 
ceive  each  three  dollars  per  day  during  their  at 
tendance  at  the  sessions  thereof,  and  three  dol 
lars  each  for  every  twenty  miles'  travel  in  going 
to  and  returning  from  said  sessions,  estimated 
according  to  the  nearest  usually  traveled  route. 

Sec.  6.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  the  le 
gislative  power  of  said  Territory  shall  extend  to 
all  rightful  subjects  of  legislation,  consistent 
with  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  and 
the  provisions  of  this  act ;  but  no  law  shall  be 
passed  interfering  with  the  primary  disposal  of 
the  soil ;  no  tax  shall  be  imposed  upon  the  pro 
perty  of  the  United  States ;  nor  shall  the  lands 
or  other  property  of  non-residents  be  taxed 
higher  than  the  lands  or  other  property  of  resi 
dents.  All  the  laws  passed  by  the  legislative  as 
sembly  and  Governor  shall  be  submitted  to  the 
Congress  of  the  United  States,  and,  if  disap 
proved,  shall  be  null  and  of  no  effect. 

Sec.  17.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  the 
Constitution  and  laws  of  the  United  States  are 
hereby  extended  over,  and  declared  to  be  m 
force  in,  said  Territory  of  Utah,  so  far  as  the 
same,  or  any  provision  thereof /may  be  applica 
ble. 

Approved  Sept   9,  1850. 

[We  have  omitted  several  matter-of-course  pro 
visions.] 


XIY. 

THE    KANSAS-NEBRASKA   STRUGGLE. 

OUT  of  the  Louisiana  Territory,  since  the 
admission  first  of  Louisiana  and  then  of  Mis 
souri  as  Slave  States,  there  had  been  formed 
the  Territories  of  Arkansas,  Iowa,  and  Min 
nesota  ;  the  first  without,  and  the  two  others 
with,  Congressional  inhibition  of  Slavery. 
Arkansas,  in  due  course,  became  a  Slave, 
and  Iowa  a  Free,  State  ;  Minnesota  was  and 
is  following  surely  in  the  track  of  Iowa.  The 
destiny  of  one  tier  of  States,  fronting  upon, 
and  westward  of,  the  Mississippi,  was  thus 
settled.  What  should  be  the  fate  of  the 
next  tier? 

The  region  lying  immediately  westward  of 
Missouri,  with  much  territory  north,  as  well 
as  a  more  clearly  defined  district  south  of 
it,  was  long  since  dedicated  to  the  uses  of 
the  Aborigines — not  merely  those  who  had 
originally  inhabited  it,  but  the  tribes  from 
time  to  time  removed  from  the  States  east 
ward  of  the  Mississippi.  Very  little,  if  any, 
of  it  was  legally  open  to  settlement  by 
Whites  ;  and,  with  the  exception  of  the  few 
and  small  military  and  trading  posts  thinly 
scattered  over  its  surface,  it  is  probable  that 
scarcely  two  hundred  white  families  were 
located  in  the  spacious  wilderness  bounded 
by  Missouri,  Iowa,  and  Minnesota  on  the 
east,  the  British  possessions  on  the  north, 
the  crest  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  on  the 
west,  and  the  settled  portion  of  New-Mexico 
and  the  line  of  36°  30'  on  the  south,  at  the 
time  when  Mr.  Douglas  first,  at  the  session 
of  1852-3,  submitted  a  bill  organizing  the 
Territory  of  NEBRASKA,  by  which  title  the 
region  above  bounded  had  come  to  be  vague 
ly  indicated. 

This  region  was  indisputably  included 
within  the  scope  of  the  exclusion  of  Slavery 
from  all  Federal  territory  north  of  36°  30', 
to  which  the  South  had  assented  by  the 
terms  of  the  Missouri  compact,  in  order 
thereby  to  secure  the  admission  of  Missouri 
as  a  Slave  State.  Nor  was  it  once  inti 
mated,  during  the  long,  earnest,  and  search 
ing  debate  in  the  Senate  on  the  Compromise 
measures  of  1850,  that  the  adoption  of  those 
measures,  whether  together  or  separately, 
would  involve  or  imply  a  repeal  of  the  Mis 
souri  Restriction.  We  have  seen  in  our  last 
chapter  how  Mr.  Clay's  original  suggestion 
of  a  compromise,  which  was  substantially 
that  ultimately  adopted,  was  received  by  the 
Southern  Senators  who  spoke  on  its  intro 
duction,  with  hardly  a  qualification,  as  a  vir 
tual  surrender  of  all  that  the  South  had  ever 
claimed  with  respect  to  the  new  territories. 
And,  from  the  beginning  to  the  close  of  the 
long  and  able  discussion  which  followed, 
neither  friend  nor  foe  of  the  Compromises, 
nor  of  any  of  them,  hinted  that  one  effect  of 
their  adoption  would  be  the  lifting  of  the 
Missouri  restriction  from  the  territory  now 


72 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  SLAVERY  RESTRICTION. 


covered  by  it.  When  the  Compromises  of 
1850  were  accepted  in  1852  by  the  Na 
tional  Conventions  of  the  two  great  parties, 
as  a  settlement  of  the  distracting  contro 
versy  therein  contemplated,  no  hint  was 
added  that  the  Nebraska  region  was  opened 
thereby  to  Slavery. 

Several  petitions  for  the  organization  of 
a  Territory  westward  of  Missouri  and  Iowa 
were  presented  at  the  session  of  1851-2,  but 
no  decisive  action  taken  thereon  until  the 
next  session,  when, 

Dec.  13th.— Mr.  W.  P.  Hall  of  Mo.,  pur 
suant  to  notice,  submitted  to  the  House  a 
bill  to  organize  the  Territory  of  PLATTE, 
which  was  read  twice,  and  sent  to  the  Com 
mittee  on  Territories.  From  that  Com 
mittee, 

Feb.  Id,  1853.— Mr.  W.  A.  Richardson  of 
111.  reported  a  bill  to  organize  the  Territory 
of  NEBRASKA,  which  was  read  twice  and 
committed. 

Feb.  9th. — The  bill  was  ordered  to  be 
taken  out  of  Committee,  on  motion  of  W. 
P.  Hall. 

Feb.  IQth.— The  bill  was  reported  from 
the  Committee  of  the  Whole  to  the  House, 
with  a  recommendation  that  it  do  not  pass. 

Mr.  Richardson  moved  the  previous  ques 
tion,  which  prevailed. 

Mr.  Letcher  of  Va.  moved  that  the  bill  do 
lie  on  the  table  :  Lost ;  Yeas  49  (mainly 
Southern)  ;  Nays  107. 

The  bill  was  then  engrossed,  read  a  third 
time,  and  passed  ;  Yeas  98 ;  Nays  43,  (as 
before). 

Feb.  llth.— The  bill  reached  the  Senate 
and  was  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Terri 
tories. 

Feb.  Vlth. — Mr.  Douglas  reported  it  with 
out  amendment. 

March  2nd. — (Last  day  but  one  of  the 
session),  Mr.  Douglas  moved  that  the  bill  be 
taken  up  :  Lost :  Yeas  20  ;  (all  Northern 
but  Atchison  and  Geyer  of  Mo.)  ;  Nays  25  ; 
(21  Southern,  4  Northern). 

March  3rd. — Mr.  Douglas  again  moved 
that  the  bill  be  taken  up. 

Mr.  Borland  of  Ark.  moved  that  it  do  lie 
on  the  table  :  Carried  :  Yeas  23  ;  (all  South 
ern  but  4;)  Nays  17;  (all  Northern  but 
Atchison  and  Geyer).  So  the  bill  was  put 
to  sleep  for  the  session. 

On  the  motion  to  take  up — Mr.  Rusk  of 
Texas  objecting — Mr.  Atchison  said  : 

"  I  must  ask  the  indulgence  of  the  Senate  to 
say  one  word  in  relation  to  this  matter.  Perhaps 
there  is  not  a  State  in  the  Union  more  deeply  in 
terested  in  this  question  than  the  State  of  Mis 
souri.  If  not  the  largest,  I  will  say  the  best, 
portion  of  that  Territory,  perhaps  the  only  por 
tion  of  it  that  in  half  a  century  will  become  a 
State,  lies  immediately  west  of  the  State  of  Mis 
souri.  It  is  only  a  question  of  time,  whether 
we  will  organize  the  territory  at  this  session  of 
Congress,  or  whether  we  will  do  it  at  the  next 


session ;  and,  for  my  own  part,  I  acknowledge 
now  that,  as  the  Senator  from  Illinois  well  knows, 
when  I  came  to  this  city,  at  the  beginning  of  the 
last  session,  I  was  perhaps  as  much  opposed  to 
the  proposition,  as  the  Senator  from  Texas  now 
is.  The  Senator  from  Iowa  knows  it ;  and  it  was 
for  reasons  which  I  will  not  now  mention  or  sug 
gest.  But,  sir,  I  have  from  reflection  and  inves 
tigation  in  my  own  mind,  and  from  the  opinions 
of  others — my  constituents,  whose  opinions  I  am 
bound  to  respect — come  to  the  conclusion  that 
now  is  the  time  for  the  organization  of  this  Ter 
ritory.  It  is  the  most  propitious  time.  The  trea 
ties  with  the  various  Indian  tribes,  the  titles  to 
whose  possessions  must  be  extinguished,  can 
better  be  made  now  than  at  any  future  time ;  for, 
as  the  question  is  agitated,  and  as  it  is  under 
stood,  white  men,  speculators,  will  interpose,  and 
interfere,  and  the  longer  it  is  postponed  the  more 
we  will  have  to  fear  from  them,  and  the  more  diffi 
cult  it  will  be  to  extinguish  the  Indian  title  in  that 
country,  and  the  harder  the  terms  to  be  imposed. 
Therefore,  Mr.  President,  for  this  reason,  without 
going  into  detail,  I  am  willing  now  that  the  ques 
tion  shall  be  taken,  whether  we  will  proceed  to 
the  consideration  of  the  bill  or  not." 

The  meaning  is  here  diplomatically  veiled, 
yet  is  perfectly  plain.  Gen.  Atchison  had  been 
averse  to  organizing  this  Territory  until  he 
could  procure  a  relaxation  of  the  Missouri 
Restriction  as  to  Slavery ;  but,  seeing  no 
present  hope  of  this,  he  was  willing  to 
waive  the  point,  and  assent  to  an  organiza 
tion  under  a  bill  silent  with  respect  to 
Slavery,  and  of  course  leaving  the  Missouri 
Restriction  unimpaired. 

Gen.  Pierce  was  inaugurated  President 
on  the  4th  March,  1853  ;  and,  in  his  Inaugu 
ral  Address,  referred  to  the  discussions  con 
cerning  Slavery  and  the  Compromises  of 
1850  in  the  following  terms  : 

"  I  believe  that  involuntary  servitude,  as  it  ex 
ists  in  different  States  of  this  confederacy,  is  re 
cognized  by  the  Constitution.  I  believe  that  it 
stands  like  any  other  admitted  right,  and  that  the 
States  where  it  exists  are  entitled  to  efficient  reme 
dies  to  enforce  the  constitutional  provisions.  I 
hold  that  the  laws  of  1850,  commonly  called  the 
"  Compromise  Measures,"  are  strictly  constitu 
tional,  and  to  be  unhesitatingly  carried  into  effect. 
I  believe  that  the  constituted  authorities  of  this 
Republic  are  bound  to  regard  the  rights  of  the 
South  in  this  respect,  as  they  would  view  any 
other  legal  and  constitutional  right,  and  that  the 
laws  to  enforce  them  should  be  respected  and 
obeyed,  not  with  a  reluctance  encouraged  by  ab 
stract  opinions  as  to  their  propriety  in  a  different 
state  of  society,  but  cheerfully,  and  according 
to  the  decisions  of  the  tribunal  to  which  their  ex 
position  belongs.  Such  have  been,  and  are,  my 
convictions,  and  upon  them  shall  I  act.  I  fer 
vently  hope  that  the  question  is  at  rest,  and  that 
no  sectional,  or  ambitious,  or  fanatical  excitement 
may  again  threaten  the  durability  of  our  institu 
tions,  or  obscure  the  light  of  our  prosperity." 

The  XXXIIId  Congress  assembled  at 
Washington,  Dec.  5th,  1853,  with  a  large 
Administration  majority  in  either  House. 
Linn  Boyd  of  Ky.  was  chosen  Speaker  of 
the  House.  The  President's  Annual  Mes 
sage  contained  the  following  allusion  to  the 
subject  of  Slavery  : 

"  It  is  no  part  of  my  purpose  to  give  promi- 


THE  KANSAS-NEBRASKA  STRUGGLE. 


73 


nenee  to  any  subject  which  may  properly  be  re 
garded  as  set  at  rest  by  the  deliberate  judgment 
of  the  people.  But.  while  the  present  is  bright 
with  promise,  and  the  future  full  of  demand  and 
inducements  for  the  exercise  of  active  intel 
ligence,  the  past  can  never  be  without  useful  les 
sons  of  admonition  and  instruction.  If  its  dan 
gers  serve  not  as  beacons,  they  will  evidently 
fail  to  fulfill  the  object  of  a  wise  design.  When 
the  grave  shall  have  closed  over  all,  who  are  now 
endeavoring  to  meet  the  obligations  of  duty,  the 
year  1850  will  bo  recurred  to  as  a  period  filled  with 
anxious  apprehension.  A  successful  war  had 
just  terminated.  Peace  brought  with  it  a  vast 
augmentation  of  territory.  Disturbing  questions 
arose,  bearing  upon  the  domestic  institutions  of 
one  portion  of  the  confederacy,  and  involving 
the  constitutional  rights  of  the  States.  But,  not 
withstanding  differences  of  opinion  and  sentiment 
which  then  existed  in  relation  to  details  and 
specific  provisions,  the  acquiescence  of  distin 
guished  citizens,  whose  devotion  to  the  Union 
can  never  be  doubted,  has  given  renewed  vigor 
to  our  institutions,  and  restored  a  sense  of  repose 
and  security  to  the  public  mind  throughout  the 
confederacy.  That  this  repose  is  to  suffer  no 
shock  during  my  official  term,  if  I  have  power 
to  avert  it,  those  who  placed  me  here  may  be  as 
sured.'' 

Dec.  15th. — Mr.  A.  C.  Dodge  of  Iowa  sub 
mitted  to  the  Senate  a  bill  (No.  22)  "  To 
organize  the  Territory  of  Nebraska,"  which 
was  read  twice,  and  referred  to  the  Com 
mittee  on  Territories. 

Jan.  4th. — Mr.  Douglas,  from  said  Com 
mittee,  reported  said  bill  with  amendments, 
which  were  printed.  The  following  is  the 
accompanying  Keport : 

The  Committee  on  Territories,  to  whom  was  re 
ferred  a  bill  for  an  act  to  establish  the  Terri 
tory  of  Nebraska,  have  given  the  same  that 
serious  and  deliberate  consideration  which  its 
great  importance  demands,  and  beg  leave  to 
report  it  back  to  the  Senate  with  varieus  amend 
ments,  in  the  form  of  a  substitute  for  the  bill : 

The  principal  amendments  which  your  com 
mittee  deem  it  their  duty  to  commend  to  the  fa 
vorable  action  of  the  Senate,  in  a  special  report, 
are  those  in  which  the  principles  established  by 
the  Compromise  Measures  of  1850,  so  far  as  they 
are  applicable  to  territorial  organizations,  are 
proposed  to  be  affirmed  and  carried  into  practi 
cal  operation  within  the  limits  of  the  new  Terri 
tory. 

The  wisdom  of  those  measures  is  attested,  not 
less  by  their  salutary  and  beneficial  effects,  in 
allaying  sectional  agitation  and  restoring  peace 
and  harmony  to  an  irritated  and  distracted  peo 
ple,  than  by  the  cordial  and  almost  universal 
approbation  with  which  they  have  been  received 
and  sanctioned  by  the  whole  country.  In  the 
judgment  of  your  Committee,  those  measures 
were  intended  to  have  a  far  more  comprehensive 
and  enduring  effect  than  the  mere  adjustment  of 
difficulties  arising  out  of  the  recent  acquisition 
of  Mexican  territory.  They  were  designed  to 
establish  certain  great  principles,  which  would 
not  only  furnish  adequate  remedies  for  existing 
evils,  but,  in  all  time  to  come,  avoid  the  perils  of 
similar  agitation,  by  withdrawing  the  question  of 
Slavery  from  the  Halls  of  Congress  and  the  po 
litical  arena,  and  committing  it  to  the  arbitration 
of  those  who  were  immediately  interested  in,  and 
alone  responsible  for,  its  consequences.  With  a 
view  of  conforming  their  action  to  what  they  re 
gard  as  the  settled  policy  of  the  Government,  sanc 


tioned  by  the  approving  voice  of  the  American 
People,  your  Committee  nave  deemed  it  their  duty 
to  incorporate  and  perpetuate,  in  their  territorial 
bill,  the  principles  arid  spirit  of  those  measures  If 
any  other  consideration  were  necessary  to  render 
the  propriety  of  this  course  imperative  upon  the 
Committee,  they  may  be  found  m  the  fact  that  the 
Psebraska  country  occupies  the  same  relative 
position  to  the  Slavery  question,  as  did  New- 
Mexico  and  Utah,  when  those  Territories  were 
organized. 

It  was  a  disputed  point,  whether  Slavery  was 
prohibited  by  law  in  the  country  acquired  from 
Mexico.  On  the  one  hand,  it  was  contended,  as 
a  legal  proposition,  that  Slavery,  having  been 
prohibited  by  the  enactments  of  Mexico,  accord 
ing  to  the  laws  of  nations,  we  received  the  country 
with  all  its  local  laws  and  domestic  institutions 
attached  to  the  soil,  so  far  as  they  did  not  conflict 
with  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  ;  and 
that  a  law  either  protecting  or  prohibiting  Slavery 
was  not  repugnant  to  that  instrument,  as  was 
evidenced  by  the  fact  that  one-half  of  the  States 
of  the  Union  tolerated,  while  the  other  half  pro 
hibited,  the  institution  of  Slavery.  On  the  other 
hand,  it  was  insisted  that,  by  virtue  of  the  Con 
stitution  of  the  United  States,  every  citizen  had 
a  right  to  remove  to  any  Territory  of  the  Union, 
and  carry  his  property  with  him  under  the  pro 
tection  of  law,  whether  that  property  consisted 
of  persons  or  things.  The  difficulties  arising 
from  this  diversity  of  opinion,  were  greatly  ag 
gravated  by  the  fact  that  there  were  many  per 
sons  on  both  sides  of  the  legal  controversy,  who 
were  unwilling  to  abide  the  decision  of  the  courts 
on  the  legal  matters  in  dispute ;  thus,  among 
those  who  claimed  that  the  Mexican  laws  were 
still  in  force,  and,  consequently,  that  Slavery  was 
already  prohibited  in  those  Territories  by  valid 
enactment,  there  were  many  who  insisted  upon 
Congress  making  the  matter  certain,  by  enacting 
another  prohibition.  In  like  manner,  some  of 
those  who  argued  that  Mexican  law  had  ceased 
to  have  any  binding  force,  and  that  the  Constitu 
tion  tolerated  and  protected  Slave  property  in 
those  territories,  were  unwilling  to  trust  the  deci 
sion  of  the  courts  upon  the  point,  and  insisted 
that  Congress  should,  by  direct  enactment,  re 
move  all  legal  obstacles  to  the  introduction  of 
Slaves  into  those  Territories. 

Such  being  the  character  of  the  controversy  in 
respect  to  the  territory  acquired  from  Mexico,  a 
similar  question  has  arisen  in  regard  to  the  right 
to  hold  slaves  in  the  Territory  of  Nebraska,  when 
the  Indian  laws  shall  be  withdrawn,  and  the 
country  thrown  open  to  emigration  and  settle 
ment.  By  the  8th  section  of  "  an  act  to  authorize 
the  people  of  Missouri  Territory  to  form  a  Con 
stitution  and  State  Government,  and  for  the  ad 
mission  of  such  State  into  the  Union  on  an  equal 
footing  with  the  original  States,  and  to  prohibit 
Slavery  in  certain  Territories/'  approved  March 
6th,  1820,  it  was  provided:  "That  in  all  that  ter 
ritory  ceded  by  Prance  to  the  United  States  under 
the  name  of  Louisiana,  which  lies  north  of  36 
degrees  30  minutes  north  latitude,  not  included 
within  the  limits  of  the  State  contemplated  by 
this  act,  Slavery  and  involuntary  servitude, 
otherwise  than  in  the  punishment  of  crimes 
whereof  the  parties  shall  have  been  duly  con 
icted,  shall  be,  and  are  hereby,  prohibited  :  Pro- 
>ided  always,  That  any  person  escaping  into  the 
ame,  from  whom  labor  or  service  is  lawfully 
laimed  in  any  State  or  Territory  of  the  United 
States,  such  fugitive  may  be  lawfully  reclaimed, 
md  conveyed  to  the  persons  claiming  his  or  her 
abor  or  service,  as  aforesaid." 

Under  this  section,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Mexican 
aw  in  New-Mexico  and  Utah,  it  is  a  disputed 
point  whether  Slavery  is  prohibited  in  the  Ne 
braska  country  by  valid  enactment.  The  deci- 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  SLAVERY  RESTRICTION. 


sion  of  this  question  involves  the  constitutional 
power  of  Congress  to  pass  laws  prescribing  and 
regulating  the  domestic  institutions  of  the  various 
Territories  of  the  Union.  In  the  opinion  of  those 
eminent  statesmen  who  hold  that  Congress  is 
invested  with  no  rightful  authority  to  legislate 
upon  the  subject  of  Slavery  in  the  Territories, 
the  8th  section  of  the  act  preparatory  to  the  ad 
mission  of  Missouri  is  null  and  void;  while  the 
prevailing  sentiment  in  large  portions  of  the 
Union  sustains  the  doctrine  that  the  Constitu 
tion  of  the  United  States  secures  to  every  citizen 
an  inalienable  right  to  move  into  any  of  the 
Territories  with  his  property,  of  whatever  kind 
and  description,  and  to  hold  and  enjoy  the  same 
under  the  sanction  of  law.  Your  Committee  do 
not  feel  themselves  called  upon  to  enter  upon  the 
discussion  of  these  controverted  questions.  They 
involve  the  same  grave  issues  which  produced 
the  agitation,  the  sectional  strife,  and  the  fearful 
struggle  of  1850.  As  Congress  deemed  it  wise 
and  prudent  to  refrain  from  deciding  the  matters 
in  controversy  then,  either  by  affirming  or  repeal 
ing  the  Mexican  laws,  or  by  an  act  declaratory 
of  the  true  intent  of  the  Constitution,  and  the 
extent  of  the  protection  afforded  by  it  to  Slave 
property  in  the  Territories,  so  your  Committee 
are  not  prepared  to  recommend  a  departure  from 
the  course  pursued  on  that  memorable  occasion, 
either  by  affirming  or  repealing  the  8th  section 
of  the  Missouri  act,  or  by  any  act  declaratory  of 
the  meaning  of  the  Constitution  in  respect  to  the 
legal  points  in  dispute. 

Tour  Committee  deem  it  fortunate  for  the 
peace  of  the  country,  and  the  security  of  the 
Union,  that  the  controversy  then  resulted  in  the 
adoption  of  the  Compromise  Measures,  which 
the  two  great  political  parties,  with  singular 
unanimity,  have  affirmed  as  a  cardinal  article  of 
their  faith,  and  proclaimed  to  the  world  as  a 
final  settlement  of  the  controversy  and  an  end 
of  the  agitation.  A  due  respect,  therefore,  for 
the  avowed  opinions  of  Senators,  as  well  as  a 
proper  sense  of  patriotic  duty,  enjoins  upon  your 
Committee  the  propriety  and  necessity  of  a  strict 
adherence  to  the  principles,  and  even  a  literal 
adoption  of  the  enactments  of  that  adjustment, 
in  all  their  territorial  bills,  so  far  as  the' same  are 
not  locally  inapplicable.  Those  enactments  em 
brace,  among  other  things,  less  material  to  the 
matters  under  consideration,  the  following  pro 
visions  : 

When  admitted  as  a  State,  the  said  Territory, 
or  any  portion  of  the  same,  shall  be  received  into 
the  Union,  with  or  without  Slavery,  as  their  con 
stitution  may  prescribe  at  the  time  of  their  ad 
mission  ; 

That  the  legislative  power  and  authority  of 
said  Territory  shall  be  vested  in  the  Governor 
and  a  Legislative  Assembly  ; 

That  the  legislative  power  of  said  Territory 
shall  extend  to  all  rightful  subjects  of  legislation, 
consistent  with  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States,  and  the  provisions  of  this  act ;  but  no 
law  shall  be  passed  interfering  with  the  primary 
disposal  of  the  soil ;  no  tax  shall  be  imposed 
upon  the  property  of  the  United  States;  nor 
shall  the  lands  or  other  property  of  non-residents 
be  taxed  higher  than  the  lauds  or  other  property 
of  residents. 

_  Writs  of  error  and  appeals  from  the  final  deci 
sions  of  said  Supreme  Court  shall  be  allowed, 
and  may  be  taken  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States  in  the  same  manner  and  under  the 
same  regulations  as  from  the  Circuit  Courts  of 
the  United  States,  where  the  value  of  the  pro 
perty  or  amount  in  controversy,  to  be  ascertained 
by  the  oath  or  affirmation  of  either  party,  or 
other  competent  witness,  shall  exceed  one  thou 
sand  dollars  ;  except  only  that,  in  all  cases  involv 
ing  title  to  slaves,  the  said  write  of  error  or  ap 


peals  shall  be  allowed  and  decided  by  the  said 
Supreme  Court,  without  regard  to  the  value  of 
the  matter,  property,  or  title  in  controversy  ;  and 
except,  also,  that  a  writ  of  error  or  appeal  shall 
also  be  allowed  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States  from  the  decisions  of  the  said 
Supreme  Court  by  this  act,  or  of  any  judge 
thereof,  or  of  the  district  courts  created  by  this 
act,  or  of  any  judge  thereof,  upon  any  writ  of 
habeas  corpus  involving  the  question  of  personal 
freedom;  and  each  of  the  said  district  courts 
shall  have  and  exercise  the  same  jurisdiction,  in 
all  cases  arising  under  the  Constitution  and 
laws  of  the  United  States,  as  is  vested  in  the 
circuit  and  district  courts  of  the  United  States  ; 
and  the  said  supreme  and  district  courts  of  the 
said  territory,  and  the  respective  judges  thereof, 
shall  and  may  grant  writs  of  habeas  corpus,  in  all 
cases  in  which  the  same  are  granted  by  the 
judges  of  the  United  States  in  the  District  of 
Columbia. 

To  which  may  be  added  the  following  proposi 
tion  affirmed  by  the  act  of  1850,  known  as  the 
fugitive  slave  law . 

That  the  provisions  of  the  "  act  respecting 
fugitives  from  justice,  and  persons  escaping  from 
the  service  of  their  masters,"  approved  Febru 
ary  12,  1793,  and  the  provisions  of  the  act  to 
amend  and  supplementary  to  the  aforesaid  act, 
approved  September  18,  1850,  shall  extend  to, 
and  be  in  force  in,  all  the  organized  Territories, 
as  well  as  in  the  various  States  of  the  Union. 

From  these  provisions,  it  is  apparent  that  the 
Compromise  Measures  of  1850  affirm,  and  rest 
upon,  the  following  propositions  : 
q  First.  —  That  all  questions  pertaining  to 
.Slavery  in  the  Territories,  and  the  new  States 
to  be  formed  therefrom,  are  to  be  left  to  the  deci 
sion  of  the  people  residing  therein,  by  their  ap 
propriate  representatives,  to  be  chosen  by  them 
for  that  purpose. 

Second. — That  "  all  cases  involving  title  to 
slaves,"  and  "questions  of  personal  freedom," 
are  to  be  referred  to  the  adjudication  of  the  local 
tribunals,  with  the  right  of  appeal  to  the.  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States. 

Third. — That  the  provisions  of  the  Constitu 
tion  of  the  United  States,  in  respect  to  fugitives 
from  service,  is  to  be  carried  into  faithful  exe 
cution  in  all  "  the  original  Territories,"  the  same 
as  in  the  States. 

The  substitute  for  the  bill  which  your  Com 
mittee  have  prepared,  and  which  is  commended 
to  the  favorable  action  of  the  Senate,  proposes  to 
carry  these  propositions  and  principles  into  prac 
tical  operation,  in  the  precise  language  of  the 
Compromise  Measures  of  1850. 


Jan.  24fA. — The  bill  thus  reported  was 
considered  in  Committee  of  the  Whole  and 
postponed  to  Monday  next,  when  it  was 
made  the  order  of  the  clay. 
ff  The  bill  was  further  considered  Jan.  31st, 
Feb.  3rd,  Feb.  5th,  and  Feb.  6th,  when  an 
amendment  reported  by  Mr.  Douglas,  de 
claring  the  Missouri  Restriction  on  Slavery 
"  inoperative  and  void,"  being  under  consid 
eration,  Mr.  Chase  of  Ohio  moved  to  strike 
out  the  assertion  that  said  Restriction 

"was  superseded  by  the  principles  of  the  legis 
lation  of  1850,  commonly  called  the  Compromise 
Measures." 

This  motion  was  defeated  by  Yeas  13; 
Nays  30,  as  follows  : 


THE  KANSAS-NEBRASKA  STRUGGLE. 


75 


YEAS—  To  strike  out: 

souri  Restriction.    Mr.  Dixon  thought  if  that  was 

Messrs.  Allen,  Ohio,            Hamlin,  Me. 

the  object,  (and  he  was  in  favor  of  it),  it  should 

Cass,  Mich.              Seward,  N.  Y. 
Chase,  Ohio,           Smith,   Conn. 
Everett,  Mass.         Stuart,  Mich. 

be  approached  in  a  direct  and  manly  way.    He 
was  assailed  for  this  in   The  Union  newspaper 

Fish,  N.  Y.              Sumner,  Mass. 

next  morning;   but  his  suggestion  was  substan 

Foot,  Vt.                 Wade,  Ohio, 

tially  adopted  by  Douglas,  after  a  brief  hesita 

Walker,  Wise.  —  13. 

tion.     Mr.    Dixon's   proposition,  having    been 

NA  YS  —  Against  striking  out  : 

made  in  Committee,  does  not  appear  in  the  Jour 

Messrs.  Adams,  Miss.          Fitzpatrick,  Ala. 

nal  of  the  Senate,  or  it  would  here  be  given  in 

Atchison,  Mo.          Geyer,  Mo. 

terms.] 

Badger,  N.  C.         Hunter,  Va. 

Bayard,  Del.           Jones,  (J.  C.)  Tenn. 

The  bill  was  further  discussed   daily  until 

Bell,  Tenn.              Mallory,  Fla. 
Benjamin,  La.        Mason.  Va. 
Bright,  Ind,            Norris,  N.  H. 

March  2nd,  when  the  vote  was  taken  on  Mr. 
Chase's  amendment,  to  add  to   Sec.  14  the 

Brodhead,  Pa.        Pettit,  Ind, 

following  words  : 

Butler,  8.  C.           Sebastian,  Ark. 
Clay,  (C.  C.)  Ala.   Shields,  III. 
Dawson,  Ga.           Slidell,  La. 
Dixon,  Ky.              Thompson,  Ky. 

"  Under  which  the   people  of  the   Territory, 
through  their  appropriate  representatives,  may, 
if  they  see  Jit,  prohibit  the  existence  of  Slavery 

Dodge,  Iowa,          Toucey,  Conn. 

tnerein 

Douglas,  III,           Weller,  Cal. 
Evans,  S.  C.           Williams,  N.  #.—30. 

which  was  rejected  :  Yeas  10  ;  Nays  36,  as 
follows  : 

Feb.  15th.—  The  bill  having  been  dis 

YEAS—  For  Mr.  Chase's  Amendment: 

cussed  daily  until  now,  Mr.  Douglas  moved 

Messrs.  Chase                       Hamlin 

to  strike  out  of  his  amendment  the  words 

Dodge  of  Wise.       Seward,' 

above  quoted  (which  the  Senate  had  re 

Fessenden,              Smith, 

fused  to  strike  out  on  Mr.  Chase's  motion,) 

Fish,                        Sumner, 

and  insert  instead  the  following  : 

Foot,                        Wade—  10. 

"  Which,  being  inconsistent  with  the  principle 
of  non-intervention  by  Congress  with  Slavery  in 

NAYS  —  Against  Chase's  Amendment: 
Messrs.  Adams,                              Hunter, 

the  States  and  Territories,  as  recognized  by  the 

Atchison,                          Johnson, 

legislation   of  1850,  (commonly  called  the  Com 

Badger,                             Jones  of  Iowa, 

promise  Measures,)  is  hereby  declared  inopera 
tive  and  void  ;  it  being  the  true  intent  and  mean 

B  ell  ,                                  J  on  es  of  Tenn. 
Benjamin,                        Mn*on, 

ing  of  this  act  not  to  legislate  Slavery  into  any 

Brodhead,                         Morton, 

Territory  or  State,  nor  to  exclude  it  therefrom, 

Brown,                              Norris, 

but  to  leave  the  people  thereof  perfectly  free  to 

Butler,                              Pettit, 

form  and  regulate  their  domestic  institutions  in 

Clay,  (C.  C.)                     Pratt, 

their  own  way,  subject  only  to  the  Constitution 

Clayton,                            Rusk, 

of  the  United  States"  — 

Dawson,                            Sebastian, 

which  prevailed  —  Yeas  35  ;   Nays  10  —  as 

Dixon,                               Shields, 
Dodge  of  Iowa,               Slidell, 

follows  : 

Douglas,                          Stuart, 

Evans,                             Toucey, 

YEAS  —  For  Douglas's  new  Amendment: 

Fitzpatrick,                      Walker, 

Messrs.  Adams,                     Gwin, 
Atchison,                 Hunter, 

Gwin,                                Weller, 
Houston,                         Williams—  36. 

Bayard,                    Johnson, 
Bell,                         Jones  of  Iowa, 

Mr.  Badger  of  N.  C.  moved  to  add  to  the 

Benjamin,                Jones  of  Tenn. 

aforesaid  section  : 

Brodhead,                Mason, 

"  Provided,     That  nothing  herein   contained 

Brown,                     Morton, 

shall  be  construed   to  revive  or  put  in  force  any 

Butler,                      Norris, 

law  or  regulation  which  may  have,  existed  prior 

Cass,                         Pearce, 
Clayton,                  Pettit, 
Dawson,                  Pratt, 

to  the  act  of  6th  of  March,  18iiO,  either  protecting  t 
establishing,    prohibiting,   or  abolishing     Sla 

Dixon,                      Sebastian 

very. 

Dodge  of  Iowa,       Slidell, 

Carried  ;  Yeas  35  ;   Nays  6,  as  follows  : 

Douglas,                  Stuart, 

Evans,                     Thompson  of  Ky. 

YEAS  —  For  Badger's  Amendment: 

Fitzpatrick,            Toombs, 

Messrs.  Atchison,                         Houston, 

Geyer,                     Weller, 

Badger,                             Hunter, 

Williams—  35. 

Bell,                                  Jones  of  Iowa, 

NA  YS  —  Against  said  Amendment  : 

Benjamin,                         Jones  of  Tenn. 
Brodhead,                         Mason, 

Messrs.  Allen,                       Foot, 

•Butler,                             Morton, 

Chase,                      Houston, 

Clay,                                  Norris, 

Dodge  of  Wise.      Seward, 

Dawson,                            Pettit, 

Everett,                    Sumner, 

Dixon,                               Pratt, 

Fish,     '                   Wade—  10. 

Dodge  of  Iowa,               Seward, 

[NOTE.  —  Prior  to  this  move  of  Mr.  Douglas, 

Douglas,                            Shields, 
Evans,                               Slidell, 

Mr.  Dixon  (Whig)  of  Ky.  had  moved  to  insert  a 

Fish,                                  Smith, 

clause  directly  and  plainly  repealing  the  Mis 

Fitzpatrick,                     Stuart, 

76 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  SLAVERY  RESTRICTION. 


Foot,  Toucey, 

Gwin,  Walker, 

Hamlin,  Weller, 

Williams— 35. 

NA  YS — Against  said  Amendment : 
Messrs.  Adame,  Johnson, 

Brown,  Rusk, 

Dodge  of  Wise.  Sebastian — 6. 

Mr.  Clayton  now  moved  to  strike  out  so 
much  of  said  Douglas  amendment  as  per 
mits  emigrants  from  Europe,  who  shall  have 
declared  their  intention  to  become  citizens, 
to  vote  :  Carried ;  Yeas  23  ;  Nays  21 — 
as  follows: 

YEAS— For  Clayton's  Amendment: 

Messrs.  Adams,  Dixon, 

Atchison,  Evans, 

Badger,  Fitzpatrick, 

Bell,  Houston, 

Benjamin,  Hunter, 

Brodhead,  Johnson, 

Brown,  Jones  of  Tenn. 

Butler,  Mason, 

Clay,  Morton,' 

Clayton,  Pratt, 

Dawson,  Sebastian, 
Slidell— 23. 

NA  YS — Against  Clayton's  Amendment : 
Messrs.  Chase,  Norris, 

Dodge  of  Wise.  Pettit, 

Dodge  of  Iowa,  Seward, 

Douglas,  Shields, 

Fessenden,  Smith, 

Fish,  Stuart, 

Foot,  Sumner, 

Gwin,  Toucey, 

Hamlin,  Wade, 

Jones  of  Iowa,  Walker, 

Williams— 21. 

Mr.  Chase  moved  to  amend,  by  provid 
ing  for  the  appointment  of  three  Commis 
sioners  residing  in  the  Territory  to  organ 
ize  the  Territory,  divide  it  into  election 
districts,  notify  an  election  on  the  first  Mon 
day  in  September  then  ensuing,  etc.,  at 
which  election  the  people  should  choose 
their  own  Governor,  as  well  as  a  Territo 
rial  Legislature — the  Governor  to  serve  for 
two  years,  and  the  Legislature  to  meet  not 
later  than  May,  1855. 

This    extension    of    the    principle    of 
"  Squatter    Sovereignty"   was    defeated— 
Yeas  10  ;  Nays  30— as  follows  : 
YE  A  S—  To  enable  the  People  of  the  Territo 
ry  to  choose  their  own  Governor,  etc. 
Messrs.  Chase,  Seward, 

Fessenden,  Shields, 

Foot,  Smith, 

Hamlin,  Sumner, 

Norris,  Wade— 10. 

NAYS — Against  said  proposition: 


Dodge  of  Wise. 
Dodge  of  Iowa, 
Douglas, 
Evans, 
FitKpatrick, 


Rusk, 
•Sebastian, 
Slidell, 
Stuart, 
Williams— 30. 


Messrs.  Atchison, 
Badger, 
Bellf 
Benjamin, 
Brodhead, 
Brown, 
Butler, 
Clay, 
Daweon, 
Dixon, 


Gwin, 

Houston, 

Hunter, 

Johnson, 

Jones  of  Iowa, 

Jones  of  Tenn. 

Mason, 

Morton, 

Pettit, 

Pratt, 


Mr.  Chase  then  moved  to  amend  the 
Boundary  section  of  Mr.  Douglas's  amend 
ment,  so  as  to  have  but  one  Territory 
named  Nebraska,  instead  of  two,  entitled 
respectively,  Nebraska  and  Kansas  ;  which 
was  defeated— Yeas  8  ;  Nays  34— as  fol 
lows : 

YEAS — For  having  but  one  Territory  ; 
Messrs.  Chase,  Seward, 

Fessenden,  Smith, 

Foot,  Sumner, 

Hamlin,  Wade — 8. 


NAYS— For  severing 
Kansas 
Messrs.  Adams, 

Atchison, 

Badger, 

Bell*    ' 

Benjamin, 

Brodhead, 

Brown, 

Butler, 

Clay, 

Dawson, 

Dixon, 

Dodge  of  Wise. 

Dodge  of  Iowa, 

Douglas, 

Evans, 

Fitzpatrick, 

Gwiu, 


Nebraska  from 

Houston, 

Hunter, 

Johnson, 

Jones  of  Iowa, 

Jones  of  Tenn. 

Mason, 

Morton, 

Norris, 

Pettit, 

Pratt, 

Rusk, 

Sebastian, 

Shields, 

Slidell, 

Stuart, 

Walker, 

Williams— 34. 


Mr.  Douglas's  amendment  was  then 
agreed  to,  and  the  bill  reported  from  the 
Committee  of  the  Whole  to  the  Senate. 

A  motion  to  strike  out  the  amendment, 
allowing  emigrant  aliens  who  have  declared 
their  intention  to  become  citizens  to  vote, 
was  agreed  to— Yeas  22;  Nays  20— as 
follows : 

YEAS — To  strike  out  said  provision  : 
Messrs.  Adams, 
Atchison, 


Badger, 

Bell, 

Benjamin, 

Brodhead, 

Brown, 

Butler, 

Clay, 

Dawson, 

Dixon, 


Evans, 

Fitzpatrick, 

Houston, 

Hunter," 

Johnson, 

Jones  of  Tenn. 

Mason, 

Morton, 

Pratt, 

Sebastian, 

Slidell— 22. 


NAYS — Against  striking  out: 


Messrs.  Chase, 

Dodge  of  Wise. 

Dodge  of  Iowa, 

Douglas, 

Fessenden, 

Fish, 

Foot, 

JIamlin, 

James, 

Jones  of  Iowa, 


Norris, 

Pettit, 

Seward, 

Shields, 

Smith, 

Stuart, 

Sumner 

Wade,  ' 

Walker, 

Williams— 20. 


The  question  on  the  engrossment  of  the 
bill  was  now  reached,  and  it  was  carried— 
Yeas  29  j  Nays  12— as  follows  : 


THE  KANSAS-NEBRASKA   STRUGGLE. 


77 


YEAS— To  engross  the  bill  for  its  third 
reading : 

Messrs.  Adams,  Gwin, 

Atchison,  Hunter, 

Badger,  Johnson, 

Benjamin,  Jones  of  Iowa, 

Brodhead,  Jones  of  Tenn. 

Brown,  Mason, 

Butler,  Morton, 

Clay,  N  orris, 

Dawson,  Pettit, 

Dixon,  Pratt, 

Dodge  of  Iowa,        Sebastian, 
Douglas,  Shields, 

Evans,  Slidell, 

Fitzpatrick,  Stuart, 

Williams— 29. 

NA  YS — Against  the  engrossment : 

Messrs.  Chase,  James, 

Dodge  of  Wise.  Seward, 

Fessenden,  Smith, 

Fish,  Sumn-er, 

Foot,  Wade, 

Hamlin,  Walker— 12. 

March  3rd.— The  rule  assigning  Fridays 
for  the  consideration  of  private  bills,  having 
been  suspended,  on  motion  of  Mr.  Badger, 
the  Senate  proceeded  to  put  the  Nebraska- 
Kansas  bill  oil  its  final  passage,  when  a  long 
and  earnest  debate  ensued.  At  a  late  hour 
of  the  night,,  Mr.  Seward  of  N.  Y.  ad 
dressed  the  Senate,  iii  opposition  to  the  bill, 
as  follows : 

Mr.  PRESIDENT  :— I  rise  with  no  purpose  of 
further  resisting  or  even  delaying  the  passage 
of  this  bill.  Let  its  advocates  have  only  a  lit 
tle  patience,  and  they  will  soon  reach  the  object 
for  which  they  have  struggled  so  earnestly  and 
BO  long.  The  sun  has  set  for  the  last  time  upon 
the  guaranteed  and  certain  liberties  of  all  the  un 
settled  and  unorganized  portions  of  the  Ameri 
can  continent  that  lie  within  the  jurisdiction  of 
the  United  States.  To-morrow's  sun  will  rise  in 
dim  eclipse  over  them.  How  long  that  obscu 
ration  shall  last,  is  known  only  to  the  Power 
that  directs  and  controls  all  human  events. 
For  myself,  I  know  only  this— that  now  no  hu 
man  power  will  prevent  its  coming  on,  and  that 
its  passing  off  will  be  hastened  and  secured  by 
others  than  those  now  here,  and  perhaps  by  only 
those  belonging  to  future  generations. 

Sir,  it  would  be  almost  factious  to  offer  fur 
ther  resistance  to  this  measure  here.  Indeed,  suc 
cessful  resistance  was  never  expected  to  be  made 
in  this  Hall.  The  Senate-floor  is  an  old  battle 
ground,  on  which  have  been  fought  many  con 
tests,  and  always,  at  least  since  1820.  with  for 
tune  adverse  to  the  cause  of  equal  and  universal 
freedom.  We  were  only  a  few  hei'e  who  engaged 
in  that  cause  in  the  beginning  of  this  contest. 
All  that  we  could  hope  to  do — all  that  we  did 
hope  to  do — was  to  organize  and  to  prepare  the 
issue  for  the  House  of  Representatives,  to  which 
the  country  would  look  for  its  decision  as  authori 
tative,  and  to  awaken  the  country  that  it  might 
be  ready  for  the  appeal  which  would  be  made, 
whatever  the  decision  of  Congress  might  be.  We 
are  no  stronger  now.  Only  fourteen  at  the  first, 
it  will  be  fortunate  if;  among  the  ills  and  acci 
dents  which  surround  us,  we  shall  maintain  that 
number  to  the  end. 

We  are  on  the  eve  of  the  consummation  of  a 
great  national  transaction — a  transaction  which 
will  close  a  cycle  in  the  history  of  our  country — 
and  it  is  impossible  not  to  desire  to  pause  a  mo 
ment  and  survey  the  scene  around  us,  and  the 


prospect  before  us.  However  obscnre  we  may 
individually  be,  our  connection  with  this  great 
transaction  will  perpetuate  our  names  for  the 
praise  or  for  the  censure  of  future  ages,  and  per 
haps  in  regions  fur  remote.  If,  then,  we  had  no 
other  motive  for  our  actions  but  that  of  an  hon 
est  desire  for  a  just  fame,  we  could  not  be  indif 
ferent  to  that  scene  and  that  prospect.  But  indi 
vidual  interests  and  ambition  sink  into  insignifi 
cance  in  view  of  the  interests  of  our  country  and 
of  mankind.  These  interests  awaken,  at  least  in 
me,  an  intense  solicitude. 

It  was  said  by  some  in  the  beginning,  and  it 
has  been  said  by  others  later  in  this  debate,  that 
it  was  doubtful  whether  it  would  be  the  cause 
of  Slavery  or  the  cause  of  Freedom  that  would 
gain  advantages  from  the  passage  of  this  bill.  I 
do  not  find  it  necessary  to  be  censorious,  nor 
even  unjust  to  others,  in  order  that  my  own 
course  may  be  approved.  I  am  sure  that  the 
honorable  Senator  from  Illinois  [Mr.  Douglas] 
did  not  mean  that  the  Slave  States  should  gain 
an  advantage  over  the  Free  States;  for  he  dis 
claimed  it  when  he  introduced  the  bill.  1  believe, 
in  all  candor,  that  the  honorable  Senator  from 
Georgia  [Mr.  Toombs],who  comes  out  at  the 
close  of  the  battle  as  one  of  the  chiefest  leaders 
of  the  victorious  party,  is  sincere  in  declaring  his 
own  opinion  that  the  Slave  States  will  gain  no 
unjust  advantage  over  the  Free  States,  because 
he  disclaims  it  as  a  triumph  in  their  behalf.  Not 
withstanding  all  this,  however,  what  has  occur 
red  here  and  in  the  country,  during  this  contest, 
has  compelled  a  conviction  that  Slavery  will  gain 
something,  and  Freedom  will  endure  a  severe, 
though  I  hope  not  an  irretrievable,  loss.  The 
slaveholding  States  are  passive,  quiet,  content, 
arid  satisfied  with  the  prospective  boon,  and  the 
Free  States  are  excited  and  alarmed  with  fearful 
forebodings  and  apprehensions.  The  impatience 
for  the  speedy  passage  of  the  bill,  manifested  by 
its  friends,  betrays  a  knowledge  that  this  is  the 
condition  of  public  sentiment  in  the  Free  States. 
They  thought  in  the  beginning  that  it  was  neces 
sary  to  guard  the  measure  by  inserting  the  Clay 
ton  amendment,  which  would  exclude  un natur 
alized  foreign  inhabitants  of  the  Territories  from 
the  right  of  suffrage.  And  now  they  seem  willing, 
with  almost  perfect  unanimity,  to  relinquish  that 
safeguard,  rather  than  to  delay  the  adoption  of 
the  principal  measure  for  at  most  a  year,  per 
haps  for  only  a  week  or  a  day.  Suppose  that 
the  Senate  should  adhere  to  that  condition,  which 
so  lately  was  thought  so  wise  and  so  important 
— what  then  ?  The  bill  could  only  go  back  to 
the  House  of  Representatives,  which  must  either 
yield  or  insist !  In  the  one  case  or  in  the  other, 
a  decision  in  favor  of  the  bill  would  be  secured; 
for  even  if  the  House  should  disagree,  the  Senate 
would  have  time  to  recede.  But  the  majority 
will  hazard  nothing,  even  on  a  prospect  so  cer 
tain  as  this.  They  will  recede  at  once,  without 
a  moment's  further  struggle,  from  the  condition, 
and  thus  secure  the  passage  of  this  bill  now,  to 
night.  Why  such  haste  1  Even  if  the  question 
were  to  go  to  the  country  before  a  final  decision 
here,  what  would  there  be  wrong  in  that  ?  There 
is  no  man  living  who  will  say  that  the  country 
anticipated,  or  that  he  anticipated,  the  agitation 
of  this  measure  in  Congress,  when  this  Congress 
was  elected,  or  even  when  it  assembled  in  De 
cember  last. 

Under  such  circumstances,  and  in  the  midst  of 
agitation,  and  excitement,  and  debates,  it  is  only 
fair  to  say,  that  certainly  the  country  has  not 
decided  in  favor  of  the  bill.  The  refusal,  then,  to 
let  the  question  go  to  the  country  is  a  conclusive 
proof  that  the  Slave  States,  as  represented  bore, 
expect  from  the  passage  of  this  bill  what  the  Free 
States  insist  that  they  will  lose  by  it — an  advan 
tage,  a  material  advantage,  and  not  a  mer©  al> 


78 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR   SLAVERY   RESTRICTION. 


straction.  There  are  men  in  the  Slave  States,  as 
in  the  Free  States,  who  insist  always  too  pertina 
ciously  upon  mere  abstractions.  But  that  is  not 
the  policy  of  the  Slave  States  to-day.  They  are 
in  earnest  in  seeking  for,  and  securing,  an  ob 
ject,  and  an  important  one.  I  believe  they  are 
going  to  have  it.  I  do  not  know  how  long  the 
advantage  gained  will  last,  nor  how  great  or 
comprehensive  it  will  be.  Every  Senator  who 
agrees  with  me  in  opinion  must  feel  as  I  do — 
that  under  such  circumstances  he  can  forego 
nothing  that  can  be  done  decently,  with  due 
respect  to  difference  of  opinion,  and  consistently 
with,  the  constitutional  and  settled  rules  of  legis 
lation,  to  place  the  true  merits  of  the  question  be 
fore  the  country.  Questions  sometimes  occur 
which  seem  to  have  two  right  sides.  Such  were 
the  questions  that  divided  the  English  nation  be 
tween  Pitt  and  Pox— such  the  contest  between 
the  assailant  and  the  defender  of  Quebec.  The 
judgment  of  the  world  was  suspended  by  its 
sympathies,  and  seemed  ready  to  descend  in  fa 
vor  of  him  who  should  be  most  gallant  in  con 
duct.  And  so,  when  both  fell  with  equal  chival 
ry  on  the  same  field,  the  survivors  united  in 
raising  a  common  monument  to  the  glorious  but 
rival  memories  of  Wolfe  and  Montcalm.  But 
this  contest  involves  a  moral  question.  The 
Slave  States  so  present  it.  They  maintain  that 
African  Slavery  is  not  erroneous,  not  unjust,  not 
inconsistent  with  the  advancing  cause  of  human 
nature.  Since  they  so  regard  it,  I  do  not  expect 
to  see  statesmen  representing  those  States  indif 
ferent  about  a  vindication  of  this  system  by  the 
Congress  of  the  United  States.  On  the  other 
hand,  we  of  the  Free  States  regard  Slavery  as  er 
roneous,  unjust,  oppressive,  and  therefore  abso 
lutely  inconsistent  with  the  principles  of  the 
American  Constitution  and  Government.  Who 
will  expect  us  to  be  indifferent  to  the  decisions 
of  the  American  people  and  of  mankind  on  such 
an  issue  ? 

Again  :  there  is  suspended  on  the  issue  of  this 
contest  the  political  equilibrium  between  the 
Free  and  the  Slave  States.  It  is  no  ephemeral 
question,  no  idle  question,  whether  Slavery  shall 
go  on  increasing  its  influence  over  the  central 
power  here,  or  whether  Freedom  shall  gain  the 
ascendancy.  I  do  not  expect  to  see  statesmen 
of  the  Slave  States  indifferent  on  so  momentous 
a  question,  and  as  little  can  it  be  expected  that 
those  of  the  Free  States  will  betray  their  own 
great  cause.  And  now  it  remains  for  me  to  declare, 
in  view  of  the  decision  of  this  controversy  so  near 
at  hand,  that  I  have  seen  nothing  and  heard  no 
thing  during  its  progress  to  change  the  opinions 
which  at  the  earliest  proper  period  I  deliberately 
expressed.  Certainly,  I  have  not  seen  the  evi 
dence  then  promised,  that  the  Free  States  would 
acquiesce  in  the  measure.  As  certainly,  too,  I 
may  say  that  I  have  not  seen  the  fulfillment  of  the 
promise  that  the  history  of  the  last  thirty  years 
would  be  revised,  corrected,  and  amended,  and 
that  it  would  then  appear  that  the  country,  dur 
ing  all  that  period,  had  been  resting  in  prosperity, 
and  contentment,  and  peace,  not  upon  a  valid, 
constitutional,  and  irrevocable  compromise  be 
tween  the  Slave  States  and  the  Free  States,  but 
upon  an  unconstitutional  and  false,  and  even  in 
famous,  act  of  Congressional  usurpation. 

On  the  contrary,  I  am  now,  if  possible,  more 
than  ever  satisfied  that,  after  all  this  debate,  the 
history  of  the  country  will  go  down  to  posterity 
just  as  it  stood  before,  carrying  to  them  the  ever 
lasting  facts,  that  until  1820  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States  legislated  to  prevent  the  introduc 
tion  of  Slavery  into  new  Territories  whenever 
that  object  was  practicable  ;  and  that  in  that  year 
they  so  far  modified  that  policy,  under  alarming 
apprehensions  of  civil  convulsion,  by  a  constitu 
tional  enactment  iu  the  character  of  a  compact, 


as  to  admit  Missouri  a  new  Slave  State,  but 
upon  the  express  condition,  stipulated  in  favor 
of  the  Free  States,  that  Slavery  should  be  forever 
prohibited  in  all  the  residue  of  the  existing  and 
unorganized  Territories  of  the  United  States 
lying  north  of  the  parallel  of  36  deg.  30  min.  north 
latitude.  Certainly,  I  find  nothing  to  win  my 
favor  toward  the  bill  in  the  proposition  of  the 
Senator  from  Maryland  [Mr.  Pearce]  to  restore 
the  Clayton  amendment,  which  was  struck  out 
in  the  House  of  Representatives.  So  far  from 
voting  for  that  proposition,  I  shall  vote  against 
it  now,  as  I  did  when  it  was  under  consideration 
here  before,  in  accordance  with  the  opinion 
adopted  as  early  as  any  political  opinions  I  ever 
had,  and  cherished  as  long,  that  the  right  of  suf 
frage  is  not  a  mere  conventional  right,  but  an 
inherent  natural  right,  of  which  no  government 
can  rightly  deprive  any  adult  man  who  is  subject 
to  its  authority,  and  obligated  to  its  support. 

I  hold,  moreover,  sir,  that  inasmuch  as  every 
man  is,  by  force  of  circumstances  beyond  his 
own  control,  a  subject  of  government  some 
where,  he  is,  by  the  very  constitution  of  human 
society,  entitled  to  share  equally  in  the  confer 
ring  of  political  power  on  those  who  wield  it,  if 
he  is  not  disqualified  by  crime ;  that  in  a  despotic 
government  he  ought  to  be  allowed  arms,  in  a 
Free  government  the  ballot  or  the  open  vote,  as 
a  means  of  self- protection  against  unendurable 
oppression.  I  am  not  likely,  therefore,  to  restore 
to  this  bill  an  amendment  which  would  deprive 
it  of  an  important  feature  imposed  upon  it  by  the 
House  of  Representatives,  and  that  one,  perhaps, 
the  only  feature  that  harmonizes  with  my  own 
convictions  of  justice.  It  is  true  that  the  House 
of  Representatives  stipulates  such  suffrage  for 
white  men  as  a  condition  for  opening  it  to  the 
possible. proscription  and  slavery  of  the  African. 
I  shall  separate  them.  1  shall  vote  for  the  former 
and  against  the  latter,  glad  to  get  universal  suf 
frage  of  white  men,  if  only  that  can  be  gained 
now,  and  working  right  on,  full  of  hope  and  con 
fidence,  for  the  prevention  or  the  abrogation  of 
Slavery  in  the  Territories  hereafter. 

Sir,  I  am  surprised  at  the  pertinacity  with 
which  the  honorable  Senator  from  Delaware, 
mine  ancient  and  honorable  friend,  [Mr.  Clay 
ton,]  perseveres  in  opposing  the  granting  of  the 
right  of  suffrage  to  the  unnaturalized  foreigner 
in  the  Territories.  Congress  cannot  deny  him 
that  right.  Here  is  the  third  article  of  that  con 
vention  by  which  Louisiana,  including  Kansas 
and  Nebraska,  was  ceded  to  the  United  States  : 

"  The  inhabitants  of  the  ceded  territory  shall 
be  incorporated  in  the  Union  of  the  United 
States,  and  admitted  as  soon  as  possfble,  accord 
ing  to  the  principles  of  the  Federal  Constitution, 
to  the  enjoyment  of  the  rights,  privileges,  and 
immunities  of  citizens  of  the  United  States ;  and 
in  the  mean  time  they  shall  be  maintained  and 
protected  in  the  free  enjoyment  of  their  liberty, 
property,  and  the  religion Jhey  profess." 

The  inhabitants  of  Kansas  and  Nebraska  are 
citizens  already,  and  by  force  of  this  treaty  must 
continue  to  be,  and  as  such  to  enjoy  the  right  of 
suffrage,  whatever  laws  you  may  make  to  the 
contrary.  My  opinions  are  well  known,  to  wit: 
That  Slavery  is  not  only  an  evil,  but  a  local  one, 
injurious  and  ultimately  pernicious  to  society, 
wherever  it  exists,  and  in  conflict  with  the  con 
stitutional  principles  of  society  in  this  country. 
I  am  not  willing  to  extend  nor  to  permit  the  ex 
tension  of  that  local  evil  into  regions  now  free 
within  our  empire.  I  know  that  there  are  some 
who  differ  from  me,  and  who  regard  the  Constitu 
tion  of  the  United  States  as  an  instrument  which 
sanctions  Slavery  as  well  as  Freedom.  But  if  I 
could  admit  a  proposition  so  incongruous  with 
the  letter  and  spirit  of  the  Federal  Constitution, 
and  the  known  sentiments  of  its  illustrious  found- 


THE  KANSAS-NEBRASKA  STRUGGLE. 


79 


ere,  and  so  should  conclude  that  Slavery  was 
national,  I  must  still  cherish  the  opinion  that  it 
is  an  evil ;  and  because  it  is  a  national  one,  I  am 
the  more  firmly  held  and  bound  to  prevent  an  in 
crease  of  it,  tending,  as  I  think  it  manifestly  does, 
to  the  weakening  and  ultimate  overthrow  of  the 
Constitution  itself,  and  therefore  to  the  injury  of 
all  mankind.  I  know  there  have  been  States 
which  have  endured  long,  and  achieved  much, 
which  tolerated  Slavery ;  but  that  was  not  the 
Slavery  of  caste,  like  African  Slavery.  Such 
Slavery  tends  to  demoralize  equally  the  subject 
ed  race  and  the  superior  one.  It  has  been  the 
absence  of  such  Slavery  from  Europe  that  has 
given  her  nations  their  superiority  over  other 
countries  in  that  hemisphere.  Slavery,  where- 
ever  it  exists,  begets  fear,  and  fear  is  the  parent 
of  weakness.  What  is  the  secret  of  that  eternal, 
sleepless  anxiety  in  the  legislative  halls,  and  even 
at  the  firesides  of  the  Slave  States,  always  asking 
new  stipulations,  new  compromises  and  abroga 
tion  of  compromises,  new  assumptions  of  power 
and  abnegations  of  power,  but  fear  ?  It  is  the 
apprehension,  that,  even  if  safe  now,  they  will 
not  always  or  long  be  secure  against  some  inva 
sion  or  some  aggression  from  the  Free  States. 
What  is  the  secret  of  the  humiliating  part  which 
proud  old  Spain  is  acting  at  this  day,  trembling 
between  alarms  of  American  intrusion  into  Cuba 
on  one  side,  and  British  dictation  on  the  other, 
but  the  fact  that  she  has  cherished  Slavery  BO 
long  and  still  cherishes  it,  in  the  last  of  her  Ameri 
can  colonial  possessions  ?  Thus  far  Kansas  and 
Nebraska  are  safe,  under  the  laws  of  1820, 
against  the  introduction  of  this  element  of  na 
tional  debility  and  decline.  The  bill  before  us, 
as  we  are  assured,  contains  a  great  principle,  a 
glorious  principle  ;  and  yet  that  principle,  when 
fully  ascertained,  proves  to  be  nothing  le^e  than 
the  subversion  of  that  security,  not  only  within 
the  Territories  of  Kansas  and  Nebraska,  but 
within  all  the  other  present  and  future  Territo 
ries  of  the  United  States.  Thus  it  is  quite  clear 
that  it  is  not  a  principle  alone  that  is  involved, 
but  that  those  who  crowd  this  measure  with  so 
rnuch  zeal  and  earnestness  must  expect  that 
either  Freedom  or  Slavery  shall  gain  something 
by  it  in  those  regions.  The  case,  then,  stands 
thus  in  Kansas  and  Nebraska :  Freedom  may 
lose,  but  certainly  can  gain  nothing  ;  while  Sla 
very  may  gain,  but  as  certainly  can  lose  no 
thing. 

So  far  as  I  am  concerned,  the  time  for  looking 
on  the  dark  side  has  passed.  I  feel  quite  sure 
that  Slavery  at  most  can  get  nothing  more  than 
Kansas  ;  while  Nebraska — the  wider  northern 
region — will,  under  existing  circumstances,  es 
cape,  for  the  reason  that  its  soil  and  climate  are 
uncongenial  with  the  staples  of  slave  culture — 
rice,  sugar,  cotton,  and  tobacco.  Moreover, 
since  the  public  attention  has  been  so  well  and  so 
effectually  directed  toward  the  subject,  I  cher 
ish  a  hope  that  Slavery  may  be  prevented  even 
from  gaining  a  foothold  in  Kans-as.  Congress 
only  gives  consent,  but  it  does  not  and  cannot 
introduce  Slavery  there.  Slavery  will  be  em 
barrassed  by  its  own  overgrasping  spirit.  No 
one,  I  am  sure,  anticipates  the  possible  re-estab 
lishment  of  the  African  Slave-trade.  The  tide  of 
emigration  to  Kansas  is  therefore  to  be  supplied 
there  solely  by  the  domestic  fountain  of  slave  pro 
duction.  But  Slavery  has  also  other  regions  be 
sides  Kansas  to  be  filled  from  that  fountain.  There 
are  all  of  New-Mexico  and  all  of  Utah  already 
within  the  United  States ;  and  then  there  is  Cuba 
that  consumes  slave  labor  and  life  as  fast  as  any 
one  of  the  slaveholding  States  can  supply  it ;  and 
besides  these  regions,  there  remains  all  of  Mexi 
co  down  to  the  Isthmus.  The  stream  of  slave 
labor  flowing  from  so  small  a  fountain,  and  bro 
ken  into  several  divergent  channels,  will  not 


cover  so  great  a  field  ;  and  it  is  reasonably  to  "be 
hoped  that  the  part  of  it  nearest  to  the  North 
Pole  will  be  the  last  to  be  inundated.  But  Af 
rican  slave  emigration  is  to  compete  with  free 
emigration  of  white  men,  and  the  source  of  this 
latter  tide  is  as  ample  as  the  civilization  of  the 
two  entire  continents.  The  honornble  Senator 
from  Delaware  mentioned,  as  if  it  were  a  start 
ling  fact,  that  twenty  thousand  European  immi 
grants  arrived  in  New-York  in  one  month.  Sir, 
he  has  stated  the  fact  with  too  much  moderation. 
On  my  return  to  the  capital  a  day  or  two  ago, 
I  met  twelve  thousand  of  these  emigrants  who 
had  arrived  in  New -York  on  one  morning, 
and  who  had  thronged  the  churches  on  the  follow 
ing  Sabbath,  to  return  thanks  for  deliverance 
from  the  perils  of  the  sea,  and  for  their  arrival  in 
the  land,  not  of  Slavery  but  of  Liberty.  I  also 
thank  God  for  their  escape,  and  for  their  coming. 
They  are  now  on  their  way  westward,  and  the 
news  of  the  passage  of  this  bill,  preceding  them, 
will  speed  many  of  them  towards  Kansas  and 
Nebraska.  Such  arrivals  are  not  extraordinary 
— they  occur  almost  every  week  ;  and  the  immi 
gration  from  Germany,  from  Great  Britain,  and 
from  Norway,  and  from  Sweden,  during  the  Eu 
ropean  war,  will  rise  to  six  or  seven  hundred 
thousand  souls  in  a  year.  And  with  this  tide  is  to 
be  mingled  one  rapidly  swelling  from  Asia  and 
from  the  islands  of  the  South  Seas.  All  the  im 
migrants  under  this  bill,  as  the  House  of  Repre 
sentatives  overruling  you  have  ordered,  will  be 
good,  loyal,  Liberty-loving,  Slavery-fearing  citi 
zens.  Come  on,  then,  gentlemen  of  the  Slave 
States.  Since  there  is  no  escaping  your-  chal 
lenge,  I  accept  it  in  behalf  of  the  cause  of  Free 
dom.  We  will  engage  in  competition  for  the 
virgin  soil  of  Kansas,  and  God  give  the  victory 
to  the  side  which  is  stronger  in  numbers  as  it  is 
in  right. 

There  are,  however,  earnest  advocates  of  this 
bill,  who  do  not  expect,  and  who,  I  suppose,  do 
not  desire,  that  Slavery  shall  gain  possession  of 
Nebraska.  What  do  they  expect  to  gain  ?  The 
honorable  Senator  from  Indiana  [Mr.  Pettit] 
says  that  by  thus  obliterating  the  Missouri  Com 
promise  restriction,  they  will  gain  a  talnda  rasa^ 
on  which  the  inhabitants  of  Kansas  and  Nebras 
ka  may  write  whatever  they  will.  This  is  the 
great  principle  of  the  bill,  as  he  understands  it. 
Well,  what  gain  is  there  in  that  ?  You  obliter 
ate  a  Constitution  of  Freedom.  If  they  write  a 
new  Constitution  of  Freedom,  can  the  new  be 
better  than  the  old  ?  If  they  write  a  Constitu 
tion  of  Slavery,  will  it  not  be  a  worse  one  ?  I 
ask  the  honorable  Senator  that.  But  the  honor 
able  Senator  says  that  the  people  of  Nebraska 
will  have  the  privilege  of  establishing  institutions 
for  themselves.  They  have  now  the  privilege  of 
establishing  free  institutions.  Is  it  a  privilege, 
then,  to  establish  Slavery?  If  so,  what  a  mock 
ery  are  all  our  Constitutions,  which  prevent  the 
inhabitants  from  capriciously  subverting  free 
institutions  and  establishing  institutions  of  Sla 
very  !  Sir,  it  is  a  sophism,  a  subtlety,  to  talk  of 
conferring  upon  a  country,  already  secure  in  the 
blessings  of  Freedom,  the  power  of  self-destruc 
tion. 

What  mankind  everywhere  want,  is  not  the 
removal  of  the  Constitutions  of  Freedom  which 
they  have,  that  they  may  make  at  their  pleasure 
Constitutions  of  Slavery  or  of  Freedom,  but  the 
privilege  of  retaining  Constitutions  of  Freedom 
when  they  already  have  them,  and  the  removal 
of  Constitutions  of  Slavery  when  they  have  them, 
that  they  may  establish  Constitutions  of  Freedom 
in  their  place.  We  hold  on  tenaciously  to  all 
existing  Constitutions  of  Freedom.  Who  de 
nounces  any  man  for  diligently  adhering  to  such 
Constitutions?  Who  would  dare  to  denounce 
any  one  for  disloyalty  to  our  existing  Constitu- 


THE  STRUGGLE   FOR   SLAVERY  RESTRICTION. 


tions,  if  they  were  Constitutions  of  Despotism 
and  Slavery?  But  it  is  supposed  by  some  that 
this  principle  is  less  important  in  regard  to  Kan 
sas  and  Nebraska  than  as  a  general  one — a  general 
principle  applicable  to  all  other  present  and 
future  Territories  of  the  United  States.  Do  ho 
norable  Senators  then  indeed  suppose  they  are 
establishing  a  principle  at  all  ?  If  so,  I  think  they 
egregiously  err,  whether  the  principle  is  either 
good  or  bad,  right  or  wrong.  They  are  not  esta 
blishing  it,  and  cannot  establish  it  in  this  way. 
You  subvert  one  law  capriciously,  by  making 
another  law  in  its  place.  That  is  all.  Will  your 
law  have  any  more  weight,  authority,  solemnity, 
or  binding  force  on  future  Congresses,  than  the 
first  had  ?  You  abrogate  the  law  of  your  prede 
cessors — others  will  have  equal  power  and  equal 
liberty  to  abrogate  yours.  You  allow  no  barriers 
around  the  old  law,  to  protect  it  from  abrogation. 
You  erect  none  around  your  new  law,  to  stay  the 
hand  of  future  innovators. 

On  what  ground  do  you  expect  the  new  law  to 
stand  ?  It'  you  are  candid,  you  will  confess  that 
you  rest  your  assumption  on  the  ground  that  the 
Free  States  will  never  agitate  repeal,  but  always 
acquiesce.  It  may  be  that  you  are  right.  I  am 
not  going  to  predict  the  course  of  the  Free  States. 
I  claim  no  authority  to  speak  for  them,  and  still 
less  to  say  what  they  will  do.  But  I  may  venture 
to  say,  that  if  they  shall  not  repeal  this  law,  it 
will  not  be  because  they  are  not  strong  enough  to 
do  it.  They  have  power  in  the  House  of  Repre 
sentatives  greater  than  that  of  the  Slave  States, 
and,  when  they  choose  to  exercise  it,  a  power 
greater  even  here  in  the  Senate.  The  Free  States 
are  not  dull  scholars,  even  in  practical  political 
strategy.  When  you  shall  have  taught  them  that 
a  compromise  law  establishing  Freedom  can  be 
abrogated,  and  the  Union  nevertheless  stand,  you 
will  have  let  them  into  another  secret,  namely : 
that  a  law  permitting  or  establishing  Slavery  can 
be  repealed,  and  the  Union  nevertheless  remain 
firm.  If  you  inquire  why  they  do  not  stand  by 
their  rights  and  their  interests  more  firmly,  I  will 
tell  you  to  the  best  of  my  ability.  It  is  because 
they  are  conscious  of  their  strength,  and,  there 
fore,  unsuspecting,  and  slow  to  apprehend  danger. 
The  reason  why  you  prevail  in  so  many  contests, 
is  because  you  are  in  perpetual  fear. 

There  cannot  be  a  convocation  of  Abolitionists, 
however  impracticable,  in  Faneuil  Hall  or  the 
Tabernacle,  though  it  consists  of  men  and  women 
who  have  separated  themselves  from  all  effective 
political  parties,  and  who  have  renounced  all 
political  agencies,  even  though  they  resolve  that 
they  will  vote  for  nobody,  not  even  for  them 
selves,  to  carry  out  their  purposes,  and  though 
they  practice  on  that  resolution,  but  you  take 
alarm,  and  your  agitation  renders  necessary  such 
compromises  as  those  of  1820  and  of  1850.  We 
are  young  in  the  arts  of  politics;  you  are  old. 
We  are  strong ;  you  are  weak.  We  are,  there 
fore,  over-confident,  careless,  and  indifferent ; 
you  are  vigilant  and  active.  These  are  traits 
that  redound  to  your  praise.  They  are  mentioned 
not  -in  your  disparagement.  I  say  only,  that 
there  may  be  an  extent  of  intervention,  of  aggres 
sion  on  your  side,  which  may  induce  the  North, 
at  some  time,  either  in  this  or  in  some  future 
generation,  to  adopt  your  tactics  and  follow  your 
example.  Remember  now,  that  by  unanimous 
consent,  this  new  law  will  be  a  repealable  statute, 
exposed  to  all  the  chances  of  the  Missouri  Com 
promise,  It  stands  an  infinitely  worse  chance  of 
endurance  than  that  compromise  did. 

The  Missouri  Compromise  was  a  transaction 
which  wise,  learned,  patriotic  statesmen  agreed 
to  surround  and  fortify  with  the  principles  of  a 
compact  for  mutual  considerations,  passed  and 
executed,  and  therefore,  although  not  irrepeal. 
able  in  fact,  yet  irrepealable  in  honor  and  con. 


science,  and  down  at  least  until  this  very  session 
of  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  it  has  had 
the  force  and  authority  not  merely  of  an  act  of 
Congress,  but  of  a  covenant  between  the  Free 
States  and  the  Slave  States,  scarcely  less  sacred 
than  the  Constitution  itself.  Now  then,  who  are 
your  contracting  parties  in  the  law  establishing 
Governments  in  Kansas  and  Nebraska,  and  ab 
rogating  the  Missouri  Compromise  ?  What  are 
the  equivalents  in  this  law  ?  What  has  the  North 
given,  and  what  has  the  South  got  back,  that 
makes  this  a  contract  ?  Who  pretends  that  it  is 
anything  more  than  an  ordinary  act  of  ordinary 
legislation  ?  If,  then,  a  law  which  has  all  the 
forms  and  solemnities  recognized  by  common 
consent  as  a  compact,  and  is  covered  with  tra 
ditions,  cannot  stand  amid  this  shuffling  of  the 
balance  between  the  Free  States  and  the  Slave 
States,  tell  me  what  chances  this  new  law  that 
you  are  passing  will  have  ? 

You  are,  moreover,  setting  a  precedent  which 
abrogates  all  compromises.  Four  years  ago,  you 
obtained  the  consent  of  a  portion  of  the  Free 
States — enough  to  render  the  effort  at  immediate 
repeal  or  resistance  alike  impossible — to  what  we 
regard  as  an  unconstitutional  act  for  the  surren 
der  of  fugitive  slaves.  That  was  declared,  by  the 
common  consent  of  the  persons  acting  in  the 
name  of  the  two  parties,  the  Slave  States  and  the 
Free  States  in  Congress,  an  irrepealable  law — not 
even  to  be  questioned,  although  it  violated  the 
Constitution.  In  establishing  this  new  principle, 
you  expose  that  law  also  to  the  chances  of  repeal. 
You  not  only  so  expose  the  fugitive  slave  law, 
but  there  is  no  solemnity  about  the  articles  for 
the  annexation  of  Texas  to  the  United  States, 
which  does  not  hang  about  the  Missouri  Com- 

e-omise ;  and  when  you  have  shown  that  the 
isso^-i  Compromise  can  be  repealed,  then  the 
articles  for  the  annexation  of  Texas  are  subject 
to  the  will  and  pleasure  and  the  caprice  of  a  tem 
porary  majority  in  Congress.  Do  you,  then,  ex 
pect  that  the  Free  States  are  to  observe  compacts, 
and  you  to  be  at  liberty  to  break  them ;  that 
they  are  to  submit  to  laws  and  leave  them  on  the 
statute-book,  however  unconstitutional  and  how 
ever  grievous,  and  that  you  are  to  rest  under  no 
such  obligation  ?  I  think  it  is  not  a  reasonable 
expectation.  Say,  then,  who  from  the  North 
will  be  bound  to  admit  Kansas,  when  Kansas 
shall  come  in  here,  if  she  shall  come  as  a  Slave 
State  ? 

The  honorable  Senator  from  Georgia,  [Mr. 
Toombs,]  and  I  know  ho  is  as  sincere  as  he  is 
ardent,  says  if  he  shall  be  here  when  Kansas 
comes  as  a  Free  State,  he  will  vote  for  her  ad 
mission.  I  doubt  not  that  he  would  ;  but  he  will 
not  be  here,  for  the  very  reason,  if  there  be  no 
other,  that  ho  would  vote  that  way.  When 
Oregon  or  Minnesota  shall  come  here  for  admis 
sion — within  one  year,  or  two  years,  or  three 
years  from  this  time — we  shall  then  see  what 
your  new  principle  is  worth  in  its  obligation  upon 
the  elaveholding  States:  No;  you  establish  no 
principle,  you  only  abrogate  a  principle  which 
was  established  for  your  own  security  as  well  as 
ours;  and  while  you  think  you  are  abnegating 
and  resigning  all  power  and  all  authority  on  this 
subject  into  the  hands  of  the  people  of  ihe  Terri 
tories,  you  are  only  getting  over  a  difficulty  in 
settling  this  question  in  the  organization  of  two 
new  Territories,  by  postponing  it  till  they  come 
here  to  be  admitted  as  States,  slave  or  free. 

Sir,  in  saying  that  your  new  principle  will  not 
be  established  uy  this  bill,  I  reason  from  obvious, 
clear,  well  settled  principles  of  human  nature. 
Slavery  and  Freedom  are  antagonistic*!  elements 
in  this  country.  The  founders  of  the  Constitution 
framed  it  with  a  knowledge  of  that  antagonism, 
and  suffered  it  to  continue,  that  it  might  work 
out  its  own  ends.  There  is  a  commercial  anla- 


THE  KANSAS  NEBRASKA  STRUGGLE. 


gonism,  an  irreconcilable  one,  between  the  sys 
tems  of  free  labor  and  slave  labor.  They  have 
been  at  war  with  each  other  ever  since  the  Go 
vernment  was  established,  and  that  war  is  to 
continue  forever.  The  contest,  when  it  ripens 
between  these  two  antagonistic  elements,  is  to  be 
settled  somewhere ;  it  is  to  be  settled  in  the  seat 
of  central  power,  in  the  Federal  Legislature. 
The  Constitution  makes  it  the  duty  of  the  central 
Government  to  determine  questions,  as  often  as 
they  shall  arise,  in  favor  of  one  or  the  other 
party,  and  refers  the  decision  of  them  to  the 
majority  of  the  votes  in  the  two  Houses  of  Con 
gress.  It  will  come  back  here,  then,  in  spite  of 
all  the  efforts  to  escape  from  it. 

This  antagonism  must  end  either  in  a  separa 
tion  of  the  antagonistic  parties — the  Slaveholding 
States  and  the  Free  States — or,  secondly,  in  the 
complete  establishment  of  the  influence  of  the 
Slave  power  over  the  Free — or  else,  on  the  other 
hand,  in  the  establishment  of  the  superior  influ 
ence  of  Freedom  over  the  interests  of  Slavery. 
It  will  not  be  terminated  by  a  voluntary  secession 
of  either  party.  Commercial  interests  bind  the 
Slave  States  and  the  Free  States  together  in  links 
of  gold  that  are  riveted  with  iron,  and  they  can 
not  be  broken  by  passion  or  by  ambition.  Either 
party  will  submit  to  the  ascendancy  of  the  other, 
rather  than  yield  the  commercial  advantages  of 
this  Union.  Political  ties  bind  the  Union  to 
gether — a  common  necessity,  and  not  merely  a 
common  necessity,  but  the  common  interests  of 
empire — of  such  empire  as  the  world  has  never 
before  seen.  The  control  of  the  national  power 
is  the  control  of  the  great  Western  Continent ; 
and  the  control  of  this  continent  is  to  be,  in  a 
very  few  years,  the  controlling  influence  in  the 
world.  Who  is  there,  North,  that  hates  Slavery 
so  much,  or  who,  South,  that  hates  emancipation 
so  intensely,  that  he  can  attempt,  with  any  hope 
of  success,  to  break  a  Union  thus  forged  and 
welded  together  ?  I  have  always  heard,  with 
equal  pity  and  disgust,  threats  of  disunion  in  the 
Free  States,  and  similar  threats  in  the  Slave- 
holding  States.  I  know  that  men  may  rave  in 
the  heat  of  passion,  and  under  great  political  ex 
citement;  but  I  know  that  when  it  comes  to  a 
question  whether  this  Union  shall  stand,  either 
with  Freedom  or  with  Slavery,  the  masses  will 
uphold  it,  and  it  will  stand  until  some  inherent 
vice  in  its  Constitution,  not  yet  disclosed,  shall 
cause  its  dissolution.  Now,  entertaining  these 
opinions,  there  are  for  me  only  two  alternatives, 
viz. :  either  to  let  Slavery  gain  unlimited  sway, 
or  so  to  exert  what  little  power  and  influence  I 
may  have,  as  to  secure,  if  I  can,  the  ultimate  pre 
dominance  of  Freedom. 

In  doing  this,  I  do  no  more  than  those  who 
believe  the  Slave  Power  is  Tightest,  wisest,  and 
best,  are  doing,  and  will  continue  to  do,  with  my 
free  consent,  to  establish  its  complete  supremacy. 
If  they  shall  succeed,  I  still  shall  be.  as  I  have 
been,  a  loyal  citizen.  If  we  succeed,  I  know  they 
will  be  loyal  also,  because  it  will  be  safest,  wisest, 
and  best  for  them  to  be  so.  The  question  is  one, 
not  of  a  day,  or  of  a  year,  but  of  many  years,  and, 
for  aught  I  know,  many  generations.  Like  all 
other  great  political  questions,  it  will  be  attended 
sometimes  by  excitement,  sometimes  by  passion, 
and  sometimes,  perhaps,  even  by  faction  ;  but  it 
is  sure  to  be  settled  in  a  constitutional  way,  with 
out  any  violent  shock  to  society,  or  to  any  of  its 
great  interests.  It  is,  moreover,  sure  to  be  settled 
rightly ;  because  it  will  be  settled  under  the 
benign  influences  of  Republicanism  and  Chris 
tianity,  according  to  the  principles  of  truth  and 
justice,  as  ascertained  by  human  reason.  In  pur 
suing  such  a  course,  it  seems  to  me  obviously  as 
wise  as  it  is  necessary  to  save  all  existing  laws 
and  Constitutions  which  are  conservative  of 
Freedom,  and  to  permit,  as  far  as  possible,  the 


establishment  of  no  new  ones  in  favor  of  Slavery ; 
and  thus  to  turn  away  the  thoughts  of  the  States 
which  tolerate  Slavery,  from  political  efforts  to 
perpetuate  what  in  its  nature  cannot  be  perpet 
ual,  to  the  more  wise  and  benign  policy  of  eman 
cipation. 

This,  in  my  humble  judgment,  is  the  simple, 
asy  path  of  duty  for  the  American  Statesman. 
I  will  not  contemplate  that  other  alternative — the 
greater  ascendancy  of  the  Slave  Power.  I  believe 
that  if  it  shall  ever  come,  the  voice  of  Freedom 
will  cease  to  be  heard  in  these  Halls,  whatever 
may  be  the  evils  and  dangers  which  Slavery  shall 
produce.  I  say  this  without  disrespect  for  Repre 
sentatives  of  Slave  States,  and  I  say  it  because 
the  rights  of  petition  and  of  debate  on  that  are 
effectually  suppressed — necessarily  suppressed — 
in  all  the  Slave  States,  and  because  they  are  not 
always  held  in  reverence,  even  now,  in  the  two 
Houses  of  Congress.  When  freedom  of  speech 
on  a  subject  of  such  vital  interest  shall  have 
ceased  to  exist  in  Congress,  then  I  shall  expect 
to  see  Slavery  not  only  luxuriating  in  all  new 
Territories,  but  stealthily  creeping  even  into  the 
Free  States  themselves.  Believing  this,  and  be 
lieving,  also,  that  complete  responsibility  of  the 
Government  to  the  people  is  essential  to  public 
and  private  safety,  and  that  decline  and  ruin  are 
sure  to  follow,  always,  in  the  train  of  Slavery,  I 
am  sure  that  this  will  be  no  longer  a  land  of 
Freedom  and  constitutional  liberty  when  Slavery 
shall  have  thus  become  paramount.  Auferre 
trucidare  fahis  nominibus  imperium  atque,  ubi 
solitudincmfaciunt,  pacem  appellant. 

Sir,  I  have  always  said  that  I  should  not  de 
spond,  even  if  this  fearful  measure  should  be 
effected  :  nor  do  I  now  despond.  Although,  rea 
soning  from  my  present  convictions,  I  should 
not  have  voted  for  the  compromise  of  18:20,  I 
have  labored,  in  the  very  spirit  of  those  who  es 
tablished  it,  to  save  the  landmark  of  Freedom 
which  it  assigned.  I  have  riot  spoken  irrever 
ently  even  of  the  compromise  of  1850,  which,  as 
all  men  know,  I  opposed  earnestly  and  with  dili 
gence.  Nevertheless,  I  have  always  preferred 
the  compromises  of  the  Constitution,  and  have 
wanted  no  others.  I  feared  all  others.  This  was 
a  leading  principle  of  the  great  statesman  of  the 
South,  [Mr.  CalhounJ.  Said  he: 

"  I  see  my  way  in  the  Constitution  ;  I  cannot 
in  a  compromise.  A  compromise  is  but  an  act 
of  Congrt  ss.  It  may  be  overruled  at  any  time. 
It  gives  us  no  security.  But  the  Constitution  is 
stable.  It  is  a  rock  on  which  we  can  stand,  and 
on  which  we  can  meet  our  friends  from  the  non- 
slaveholding  States.  It  is  a  firm  and  stable 
ground,  on  which  we  can  better  stand  in  opposi 
tion  to  fanaticism  than  on  the  shifting  sands  of 
compromise.  Let  us  be  done  with  compromises. 
Let  us  go  back  and  stand  upon  the  Constitu 
tion." 

I  stood  upon  this  ground  in  1850,  defending 
Freedom  upon  it  as  Mr.  Calhoun  did  in  defend 
ing  Slavery.  I  was  overruled  then,  and  I  have 
waited  since  without  proposing  to  abrogate  any 
compromises. 

It  has  been  no  proposition  of  mine  to  abrogate 
them  now ;  but  me  proposition  has  come  trom 
another  quarter — from  an  adverse  one.  It  is 
about  to  prevail.  The  shifting  sands  of  compro 
mise  are  passing  from  under  my  feet,  and  they 
are  now,  without  agency  of  my  own,  taking  hold 
again  on  the  rock  of  the  Constitution.  It  shall  be 
no  fault  of  mine  if  they  do  not  remain  finn.  This 
seems  to  me  auspicious  of  better  days  and  wiser 
legislation.  Through  all  the  darkness  and  gloom 
of  the  present  hour,  bright  stars  are  breaking, 
that  inspire  me  with  hope,  and  excite  me  to  per 
severance.  Thev  show  that  the  day  of  compro 
mises  has  past  forever,  and  that  henceforward 
all  great  questions  between  Freedom  and  Slavery 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  SLAVERY  RESTRICTION. 


legitimately  coming  here— and  none  other  can 
come— shall  be  decided,  as  they  ought  to  be,  upon 
their  merits,  by  a  fair  exercise  of  legislative 
power,  and  not  by  bargains  of  equivocal  pru 
dence,  if  not  of  doubtful  morality. 

The  House  of  Representatives  has,  and  it  al 
ways  will  have,  an  increasing  majority  of  mem 
bers  from  the  Free  States.  On  this  occasion,  that 
House  has  not  been  altogether  faithless  to  the  in 
terests  of  the  Free  States ;  for  although  it  has  taken 
away  the  charter  of  Freedom  from  Kansas  and 
Nebraska,  it  has,  at  the  same  time,  told  this  proud 
body,  in  language  which  compels  acquiescence, 
that"  in  submitting  the  question  of  its  restoration, 
it  would  submit  it  not  merely  to  interested  citi 
zens,  but  to  the  alien  inhabitants  of  the  Terri 
tories  also.  So  the  great  interests  of  humanity 
are,  after  all.  thanks  to  the  House  of  Represent 
atives,  and  thanks  to  God,  submitted  to  the 
voice  of  human  nature. 

Sir,  I  see  one  more  sign  of  hope.  The  great 
support  of  Slavery  in  the  South  has  been  its  alli 
ance  with  the  Democratic  party  of  the  North. 
By  means  of  that  alliance,  it  obtained  paramount 
influence  in  this  Government  about  the  year  1800, 
which  from  that  time  to  this,  with  but  few  and 
Blight  interruptions,  it  has  maintained.  While 
Democracy  in  the  North  has  thus  been  support 
ing  Slavery  in  the  South,  the  people  of  the  North 
have  been  learning  more  profoundly  the  princi 
ples  of  republicanism  and  of  free  government. 
It  is  an  extraordinary  circumstance,  which  you, 
sir,  the  present  occupant  of  the  chair,  [Mr.  Stu 
art  J  ,  I  am  sure  will  not  gainsay,  that  at  this  mo 
ment,  when  there  seems  to  be  a  more  complete 
divergence  of  the  Federal  Government,  in  favor 
of  Slavery,  than  ever  before,  the  sentiment  of 
Universal  Liberty  is  stronger  in  all  Free  States 
than  it  ever  was  before.  With  that  principle, 
the  present  Democratic  party  must  now  come 
into  a  closer  contest.  Their  prestige  of  Democra 
cy  is  fast  waning,  by  reason  of  the  hard  service 
which  their  alliance  with  their  slaveholding 
brethren  has  imposed  upon  them.  That  party 
perseveres,  as  indeed  it  must,  by  reason  of  its  very 
constitution,  in  that  service,  and  thus  comes  into 
closer  conflict  with  elements  of  true  Democracy, 
and  for  that  reason  is  destined  to  lose,  and  is  fast 
losing,  the  power  which  it  has  held  so  firmly  and 
long.  That  power  will  not  be  restored  until  the 
principle  established  here  now  shall  be  reversed, 
and  a  Constitution  shall  be  given,  not  only  to 
Kansas  and  Nebraska,  but  also  to  every  other 
national  Territory,  which  will  be  not  a  tabvla 
rasa,  but  a  Constitution  securing  equal,  univer 
sal,  and  perpetual  Freedom. 


Mr.  Douglas  closed  the  debate,  reiterating 
and  enforcing  the  views  set  forth  in  his  Re 
port  already  given  ;  and  at  last  the  vote 
was  taken,  and  the  bill  passed  :  Yeas  37  ; 
Nays  14  ;  as  follows  : 

YEAS—  For  the  Kansas-Nebraska  bill  : 


Messrs.  Adams, 

Atchison, 

Badger, 

Bayard, 

Benjamin, 

Brodhead, 

Brown, 

Butler, 

Cass, 

Clay, 

Dawson, 

Dixon, 

Dodge  of  Iowa, 

Douglas, 

Evans, 


Hunter, 

Johnson, 

Jones  of  Iowa, 

Jones  of  Term. 

Mason, 

Morton, 

Norris, 

Pettit, 

Pratt, 

Rusk, 

Sebastian, 

Shields, 

Slidell, 

Stuart, 

Thompson  of  Ky. 


Fitzpatrick,  Thomson  of  N.  J. 

Geyer,  Toucey, 

Gwin,  Weller, 

Williams— 37. 

NA  YS— Against  the  said  bill ; 

Messrs.  Bell,  Houston, 

Chase,  James. 
Dodge  of  Wise.        Seward, 

Fessenden,  Smith, 

Fish,  Sunnier, 

Foot,  Wade, 

Hamlin,  Walker— 14. 

So  the  bill  was  passed,  and  its  title  de 
clared  to  be  "  An  Act  to  organize  the  Ter 
ritories  of  Nebraska  and  Kansas,"  and  the 
Senate  adjourned  over  to  the  Tuesday  fol- 
following. 


In  the  House,  a  bill  to  organize  the  Ter 
ritory  of  Nebraska  had  been  noticed  on  the 
first  day  of  the  session,  by  Mr.  John  G. 
Miller  of  Mo.,  who  introduced  it  December 
22nd. 

Jan.  24Z/t. — Mr.  Giddings  gave  notice  of 
a  bill  to  organize  said  Territory. 

Jan.  30th. — Mr.  Pringle  of  N.  Y.  en 
deavored  to  have  the  bill  passed  at  the  last 
session  (leaving  the  Missouri  Restriction 
intact),  reported  by  the  Committee  on  Ter 
ritories  ;  but  debate  arose,  and  his  resolution 
lay  over. 

Jan.  3lst. — Mr.  Richardson  of  111.,  chair 
man  of  the  Committee  on  Territories,  re 
ported  a  bill  "  To  organize  the  Territories 
of  Nebraska  and  Kansas,"  which  was  read 
twice  and  committed. 

Mr.  Richardson's  bill  was  substantially 
Mr.  Douglas's  last  bill,  and  was  accompa 
nied  by  no  report.  Mr.  English  of  Ind. 
submitted  the  views  of  a  minority  of  said 
Committee  on  Territories,  proposing,  with 
out  argument,  the  two  following  amend 
ments  : 

1.  Amend  the  section  defining  the  bound 
ary  of  Kansas,  so  as  to  make  "  the  summit 
of  the  Rocky  Mountains"  the  western  bound 
ary  of  said  Territory. 

2.  Strike  out  of  the  14th  and  34th  sec 
tions  of  said  bill  all  after  the  words  "  Uni 
ted  States,"  and  insert  in  each  instance  (the 
one  relating  to  Kansas,  and  the  other  to  Ne 
braska)  as  follows  :- 

Provided,  That  nothing  in  this  act  shall  be  so 
construed  as  to  prevent  the  people  of  said  Terri 
tory,  through  the  properly-constituted  legislative 
authority,  from  passing  such  laws,  in  relation  to 
the  institution  of  Slavery,  as  they  may  deem 
best  adapted  to  their  locality,  and  most  condu 
cive  to  their  happiness  and  welfare ;  and  so  much 
of  any  existing  act  of  Congress  as  may  conflict 
with  the  above  right  of  the  people  to  regulate 
their  domestic  institutions  in  their  own  way,  be, 
and  the  same  is  hereby,  repealed." 

This  appears  to  have  been  an  attempt  to 
give  practical  effect  to  the  doctrine  of 
Squatter  Sovereignty  ;  but  it  was  not  suc 
cessful. 


THE  KANSAS-NEBRASKA  STRUGGLE. 


83 


May  8th. — On  motion  of  Mr.  Richard 
son,  the  House — Yeas  109  ;  Nays  88 — 
resolved  itself  into  a  Committee  of  the 
Whole,  and  took  up  the  bill  ( House  No, 
23G)  to  organize  the  Territories  of  Nebras 
ka  and  Kansas,  and  discussed  it — Mr.  Olds 
of  Ohio  in  the  chair. 

On  coming  out  of  Committee,  Mr  George 
W.  Jones  of  Tenn.  moved  that  the  rules  be 
suspended  so  as  to  enable  him  to  move  the 
printing  of  Senate  bill  (No.  22,  passed  th< 
Senate  as  aforesaid)  and  the  amendmen 
now  pending  to  the  House  bill.  No  quo 
rum  voted — adjourned. 

May  9th. — This  motion  prevailed.  Af 
ter  debate  in  Committee  on  the  Kansas-Ne 
braska  bill,  the  Committee  found  itself 
without  a  quorum,  and  thereupon  rose  anc 
reported  the  fact  to  the  House — only  106 
Members  were  found  to  be  present.  After 
several  fruitless  attempts  to  adjourn,  a  cal 
was  ordered  and  a  quorum  obtained,  at  9 
P.  M.  At  10,  an  adjournment  prevailed. 

May  10th. — Debate  in  Committee  con 
tinued. 

May  llth. — Mr.  Richardson  moved  that 
all  debate  in  Committee  close  to-morrow  at 
noon. 

Mr.  English  moved  a  call  of  the  House  : 
Refused  ;  Yeas  88  ;  Nays  97. 

Mr.  Mace  moved  that  Mr.  Richardson's 
motion  be  laid  on  the  table :  Defeated ; 
Yeas  95  ;  Nays  100. 

Mr.  Edgerton  of  Ohio  moved  a  call  of 
the  House  :  Refused  ;  Yeas  45  ;  Nays  80. 

[The  day  was  spent  in  what  has  come 
to  be  called  "Filibustering" — that  is,  the 
minority  moving  adjournments,  calls  of  the 
House,  asking  to  be  excused  from  voting, 
taking  appeals,  etc.,  etc.  In  the  midst  of 
this,  Mr.  Richardson  withdrew  his  original 
motion,  and  moved  instead  that  the  debate 
in  Committee  be  closed  in  five  minutes  after 
the  House  shall  have  resumed  it. 

The  hour  of  noon  of  the  12th  having  ar- 
uived,  Messrs.  Dean  and  Banks  raised  points 
of  order  as  to  the  termination  of  the  legisla 
tive  day.  The  Speaker  decided  that  the 
legislative  day  could  only  be  terminated  by 
the  adjournment  of  the  House,  except  by 
constitutional  conclusion  of  the  session.  Mr. 
Banks  appealed,  but  at  length  withdrew  his 
appeal. 

Finally,  at  11$  o'clock,  P.  M.,  of  Friday, 
12th,  after  a  continuous  sitting  of  thirty- 
six  hours,  the  House,  on  motion  of  Mr.  Rich 
ardson,  adjourned. 

May  13th. — The  House  sat  but  two 
hours,  and  effected  nothing. 

May  15th. — Mr.  Richardson  withdrew  his 
demand  for  the  Previous  Question  on  clos 
ing  the  debate,  and  moved  instead  that  the 
debate  close  at  noon  on  Friday  the  19th  in 
stant.  This  he  finally  modified  by  substi 
tuting  Saturday  the  20th  ;  and  in  this  shape 
his  motion  prevailed  by  a  two-thirds  majori 


ty—Yeas  137  ;  Nays  66— the  following  op 
ponents  of  the  bill  voting  for  the  motion, 
namely : 

MAINE.— Thomas  J.  D.  Fuller,  Samuel  May- 

NEW-HAMPSHIRE. — Geo.  W.  Kittredge,  Geo. 
W.  Morrison— 2. 

MASSACHUSETTS.— Nathaniel  P.  Banks,  jr.— 1. 
CONNECTICUT.— Origen  S.  Seymour — ]. 
NEW-YORK.— Gilbert  Dean,  Charles  Hughes 

PENNSYLVANIA.— Michael  C.  Trout— 1. 

OHIO.— Alfred  P.  Edgerton,  Harvey  H.  John 
son,  Andrew  Ellison,  William  D.  Lindsley,  Thom 
as  llichey — 5. 

INDIANA.— Andrew  J.  Harlaii,  Daniel  Mace— 2.  • 

ILLINOIS.-  John  Went  worth— 1. 

MICHIGAN.— David  A.  Noble,  Hestor  L.  Ste 
vens— 2. 

WISCONSIN. — John  B.  Macy — 1. 

VIRGINIA.— John  S.  Millson— 1. 
Total— 21. 

Mr.  Richardson,  having  thus  got  in  his 
resolution  to  close  the  debate,  put  on  the 
previous  question  again,  and  the  House — 
Yeas,  113  ;  Nays,  59 — agreed  to  close  the 
debate  on  the  20th. 

Debate  having  been  closed,  the  opponents 
of  the  measure  expected  to  defeat  or  crip 
ple  it  by  moving  and  taking  a  vote  in  Com 
mittee  on  various  propositions  of  amend 
ment,  kindred  to  those  moved  and  rejected 
in  the  Senate;  some  of  which  it  was  be 
lieved  a  majority  of  the  House  would  not 
choose  (or  dare)  to  vote  down  ;  and,  though 
the  names  of  those  voting  on  one  side  or 
the  other  in  Committee  of  the  Whole  are 
not  recorded,  yet  any  proposition  moved  and 
rejected  there,  may  be  renewed  in  the  House 
after  taking  the  bill  out  of  committee,  and  is 
no  longer  cut  off  by  the  Previous  .Question  ; 
as  it  formerly  was.  But,  when  the  hour  for 
closing  debate  in  Committee  had  arrived, 
Mr.  Alex.  H.  Stephens  moved  that  the  en 
acting  clause  of  the  bill  be  stricken  out ; 
which  was  carried  by  a  rally  of  the  friends 
of  the  bill,  and  of  course  cut  off  all  amend 
ments.  The  bill  was  thus  reported  to  the 
House  with  its  head  off;  when,  after  a  long 
struggle,  the  House  refused  to  agree  to  the 
report  of  the  Committee  of  the  Whole — 
Yeas  (for  agreeing)  97  ;  Nays  117 — bring- 
ng  the  House  to  a  direct  vote  on  the  en 
grossment  of  the  bill. 

Mr.  Richardson  now  moved  an  amend 
ment,  which  was  a  substitute  for  the  whole 
)ill,  being  substantially  the   Senate's  bill, 
with  the  clause  admitting  aliens,  who  have 
declared  their  intention  to  become  citizens, 
,o  the  right   of  suffrage.      He  thereupon 
:alled  the    Previous   Question,  which  the 
louse  sustained — Yeas  116;   Nays  90 — 
hen  the  House  adopted  his  amendment— 
Yeas  115  ;  Nays  95 — and  proceeded  to  en 
gross  the  bill — Yeas  112  ;  Nays  99 — when 
he  put  on  the  Previous  Question  again,  and 
passed   the   bill  finally— Yeas  113;   Nays 
100 — as  follows  : 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  SLAVERY  RESTRICTION. 


YEAS— -113. 

FROM    THE    FREE    STATES. 

MAINE — Moses  McDonald — 1. 

NEW- HAMPSHIRE — Hairy  Hibbard — I. 

CONNECTICUT— Colin  M.  Ingeraoll — 1. 

VERMONT — None.     M  A s s  A  c  H  u  s E T  x s — None. 

RHODE  ISLAND — None. 

NEW-YORK— Thomas  W.  Camming,  Francis 
B.  Cutting,  Peter  Rowe,  John  J.  Taylor,  Wil 
liam  M.  Tweed,  Hiram  Walbridge,  William  A. 
Walker,  Mike  Walsh,  Theo.  R.  Westbrook — 9. 

PENNSYLVANIA — Samuel  A.  Bridges,  John  L. 
Dawson,  Thomas  B.  Florence,  J.  Glancy  Jones, 
William  II.  Kurtz,  John  McNalr,  Asa  Packer, 
John  Robbins,  Jr.,  Christian  M.  Straub,  William 
H.  Witte,  Hcudrick  B.  Wright— 11. 

NEW-JERSEY — Samuel  Lilly,  George  Vail — 2. 

OHIO— David  T.  Disney,  Frederick  W.  Green, 
Edson  B.  Olds,  Wilson  Shannon— 4. 

INDIANA — John  G.  Davis,  Cyrus  L.  Dunham, 
Norman  Eddy,  William  H.  English,  Thomas  A. 
Hendricks,  James  H.  Lnne,  Smith  Miller — 7. 

ILLINOIS— James  C.  Allen,  Willis  Allen,  Wm. 
A.  Richardson— 3. 

MICHIGAN — Samuel  Clark,  David  Stuart — 2. 

IOWA — Bernhart  Henn — 1. 

WISCONSIN — None. 

CALIFORNIA — Milton  S.  Latham,  J.  A.  McDou- 
gall— 2.  Total  44. 

FROM    THE    SLAVE    STATES. 

DELAWARE — George  R.  Riddle — 1. 

MARYLAND — William  T.  Hamilton,  Henry 
May,  Jacob  Shower,  Joshua  Vansant — 4. 

VIRGINIA — Thomas  H.  Bayly,  Thomas  S.  Bo- 
cock,  John  S.  Caskie,  Henry  A.  Edmundson, 
Charles  J.  Faulkner,  William  O.  Goode,  Zede- 
kiah  Kidwell,  John  Letcher,  Paulus  Powell, 
William  Smith,  John  F.  Snodgrass — 11. 

NORTH  CAROLINA — William  S.  Ashe,  Burton 
Craige,  Thomas  L.  Clingman,  John  Kerr,  Thos. 
Ratlin,  Henry  M.  Shaw — 6. 

SOUTH  CAROLINA — William  W.  Boyce,  Pres 
ton  S.  Brooks,  James  L.  Orr — 3. 

GEORGIA— David  J.  Bailey,  Elijah  W.  Chas- 
tain,  Alfred  H.  Colquitt,  Juriius  Hillyer,  David 
A.  Reese,  Alex.  H.  Stephens — 6. 

ALABAMA — James  Abercrombie,  Williamson 
R.  W.  Cobb,  James  F.  Dowdell,  Sampson  W. 
Harris,  George  S.  Houston,  Philip  Phillips,  Wil 
liam  R.  Smith— 7. 

MISSISSIPPI — William  S.  Barry,  William 
Barksdale,  Otho  R.  Singleton,  Daniel  B.  Wright 

LOUISIANA — William  Dunbar,  Roland  Jones, 
John  Perkins,  Jr. — 3 

KENTUCKY — John  C.  Breckcnridge,  James  S. 
Chrisman,  Leander  M.  Cox,  Clement  S.  Hill, 
John  M.  Elliot,  Benj.  E.  Grey,  William  Pres 
ton,  Richard  H.  Stanton— 8. 

TENNESSEE— William' M.  Churchwell,  George 
W.  Jones,  Charles  Ready,  Samuel  A.  Smith, 
Frederick  P.  Stanton,  Felix  K.  Zollicoffer — 6. 

MISSOURI — Alfred  W.  Lamb,  James  J.  Lind- 
ley,  John  G.  Miller,  Mordecai  Oliver,  John  S. 
Pbelps— 5. 

ARKANSAS— Alfred  B.  Greeirwood,  Edwin  A. 
Warren — 2. 

FLORIDA — Augustus  E.  Maxwell — 1. 

TEXAS— Peter  H.  Bell,  Geo.  W.  Smyth— 2. 

Total— 69. 
Total,  Free  and  Slave  States— 113. 

NAYS— 100. 

FREE    STATES. 

MAINE — Samuel  P.  Benson,  E.  Wilder  Far 
ley,  Thomas  J.  D.  Fuller,  Samuel  Mayall,  Israel 
Washburn,  Jr.— 5. 


NEW-HAMPSHIRE — George  W.  Kittredge, 
George  W.  Morrison — 2. 

MASSACHUSETTS  —  Nathaniel  P.  Banks,  Jr., 
Samuel  L.  Crocker,  ALEX.  DE  WITT  ,  Edward 
Dickinson,  J.  Wiley  Edmands,  Thomas  D. 
Eliot,  John  Z.  Goodrich,,  Charles  W.  Upham, 
Samuel  H.  Walley,  Tappan  Wentworth — 10. 

RHODE  ISLAND — Thomas  Davis,  Benjamin  B. 
Thurston— 2. 

CONNECTICUT  —  Nathan  Belcher,  James  T. 
Pratt,  Origen  S.  Seymour — 3. 

VERMONT — James  Meacham,  Alvah  Sabin, 
Andrew  Tracy — 3. 

NEW-YORK — Henry  Bennett,  Davis  Carpen 
ter,  Gilbert  Dean,  Caleb  Lyon,  Reuben  E.  Fen- 
ton,  Thomas  T.  Flagler,  George  Hastings,  Solo 
mon  G.  Haven,  Charles  Hughes,  Daniel  T.  Jones, 
Orsamus  B.  Mattcson,  Edwin  B.  Morgan, 
William  Murray,  Andrew  Oliver,  Jared  V.  Peck, 
Rufus  W.  Peckham,  Bishop  Perkins,  Benjamin 
Pringlc,  Russell  Sape,  George  A.  Simmons, 
GERRIT  SMITH,  John  Wheeler — 22. 

NEW-JERSEY  —  Alex.  C.  M.  Pcnnington, 
Charles  Skelton,  Nathan  T.  Stratton— 3. 

PENNSYLVANIA — Joseph,  R.  Chandler,  Carlton 
B.  Curtis,  John  Dick,  Augustus  Drum,  William 
Everhart,  James  Gamble,  Galusha  A.  Grow, 
Isaac  E.  Hiester,  Thomas  M.  Howe,  John  Mc- 
Culloch,  Ner  MidJleswarth,  David  Ritchie, 
Samuel  L.  Russell,  Michael  C.  Trout— 14. 

OHIO — Edward  Ball,  Lewis  D.  Campbell, 
Alfred  P.  Edgerton,  Andrew  Ellison,  JOSHUA  R. 
GIDDINGS,  Aaron  Harlan,  John  Scott  Harri 
son,  H.  H.  Johnson,  William  D.  Lindsley,  M.  H. 
Nichols,  Thomas  Richey,  William  R.  Sapp, 
Andrew  Stuart,  John  L.  Taylor,  EDWARD  WADE 
— 15. 

INDIANA — Andrew  J.  Harlan,  Daniel  Mace, 
Samuel  W.  Parker— -3. 

ILLINOIS — James  Knox,  Jesse  O.  Norton, 
Elihu  B.  Washburne,  John  Wentworth,  Richard 
Yates — 5. 

MICHIGAN — David  A.  Noble,  Hestor  L.  Ste 
vens — 2. 

WISCONSIN — Benjamin  C.  Eastman,  Daniel 
Wells,  Jr.— 2. 

IOWA — None.  CALIFORNIA — None.   Total — 91. 

SOUTHERN  STATES. 

VIRGINIA — John  S.  Millson — 1. 

NORTH  CAROLINA- — Richard  C.  Puryear, 
Sion  H.  Rogers— 2. 

TENNESSEE — Robert  M.  Bugg,  William  Cul- 
lom,  Emerson  Etheridge,  Nathaniel  G.  Tay 
lor — 4. 

LOUISIANA — Theodore  G.  Hunt—]. 

MISSOURI — Thomas  H.  Benton— I. 

OTHER  SOUTHERN  STATES — None.    Total — 9. 

Total,  Free  and  Slave  States— 100. 

ABSENT,  OR  NOT  VOTING— 21. 

N.  ENGLAND  STATES — William  Appleton  of 
Mass. — 1. 

NEW- YORK — Geo.  W.  Chase,  James  Maurice 
o 

PENNSYLVANIA — None.     NEW-JERSEY — None. 
OHIO — George  Bliss,  Moses  B.  Corwin — 2. 
ILLINOIS— Wm.  H.  Bissell— 1. 
CALIFORNIA — None. 
INDIANA — Eben  M.  Chamberlain — 1. 
MICHIGAN — None.    IOWA — John  P.  Cook — 1. 
WISCONSIN — John  B.  Macy — 1. 

Total  from  Free  States — 9. 

MARYLAND — John  R.  Franklin,  Augustus  R. 
Sailers — 2. 

VIRGINIA — Fayette  McMullen — 1. 

NORTH  CAROLINA  —  None.  DELAWARE  — 
None. 


THE  KANSAS-NEBRASKA  STRUGGLE. 


SOUTH  CAROLINA— Wm.  Aiken,  Lawrence  M. 
Keitt,  John  McQueen — 3. 

GEORGIA — Wm.  13.  W.  Dent.  James  L.  Seward 
—2. 

ALABAMA — None. 

MISSISSIPPI — Wiley  P.  Harris — 1. 

KENTUCKY — Linn  Boyd,  (Speaker,)  Presley 
Ewing — 2. 

MISSOURI — Samuel  Caruthers — 1. 

ARKANSAS — None.    FLORIDA — None. 

TEXAS — None.    TENNESSEE — None. 

Lo  u  i  s  i  A  N  A — None. 

Total  from  Slave  States— 12. 

Whigs  in  Italics.  Abolitionists  in  SMALL  CAPITALS. 
Democrats  in  Roman. 

May  23d. — The  bill  being  thus  sent  to" 
the  Senate  (not  as  a  Senate  but  as  a  House 
bill) ,  was  sent  at  once  to  the  Committee  of 
the  Whole,  and  there  briefly  considered. 

May  2£th. — Mr.  Pearce  of  Md.  moved  to 
strike  out  the  clause  in  sec.  5  which  ex 
tends  the  right  of  suffrage  to 

"  those  who  shall  have  declared  on  oath  their 
intention  to  become  such,  [citizens]  and  shall 
have  taken  an  oath  to  support  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States,  and  the  provisions  of  this 
act." 

Negatived — Yeas ;  Bayard,  Bell,  Brod- 
head.  Brown,  Clayton,  Pearce,  and  Thomp 
son  of  Ky  Nays  41. 

The  bill  was  then  ordered  to  be  engrossed 
for  a  third  reading — Yeas  35  ;  Nays  13,  as 
follows  : 

YEAS— For  Engrossing: 


Atchison,  Mo. 
Badger,  N.  C. 
Benjamin,  La. 
Brodhead,  Pa. 
Brown,  Miss. 
Butler,  S.  C. 
Cass,  Mich. 
Clay,  Ala. 
Dawson,  Ga. 
Douglas,  111. 
Fitzpatrick,  Ala. 
Gwin,  Cal. 
Hunter,  Va. 
Johnson,  Ark. 
Jones,  Iowa, 
Jones,  Tenn. 
Mallory,  Fla. 

Wright,  N. 


Mason,  Va. 
Morton,  Fla. 
Norris,  N.  H. 
Pearce,  Md. 
Petti t,  Ind. 
Pratt,  Md. 
Rusk,  Texas, 
Sebastian,  Ark. 
Shields,  111. 
Slidell,  La. 
Stuart,  Mich. 
Thompson  Ky. 
Thomson,  N.  J. 
Toombs,  Ga. 
Toucey,  Ct. 
Weller,  Cal. 
Williams,  N.  H. 
J.— 35. 


NAYS — Against  Engrossing  : 
GILLETTE,  Ct. 
Harnlin,  Me. 
James,  R.  I. 
Reward,  N.  Y. 
SUMNER,  Mass. 
Wade,  Ohio, 


Messrs.  Allen,  R,  I. 
Bell,  Tenn. 
CHASE,  Ohio, 
Clayton,  Del. 
Fish,  N.  Y. 
Foot,  Vt. 


V  t«  r  r  M- ' «  ^  , 

Walker,  Wise.— 13. 

Democrats  in  Roman;  Whigs  in  Italics;  Free  Demo 
crats  in  SMALL  CAPS. 

The  bill  was  then  passed  without  further 
division,  and,  being  approved  by  the  Presi 
dent,  became  a  law.  Its  provisions  are  as 
follows  : 

An  Act  to  organize  the  Territories  of  Nebraska  and 

Kansas. 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Rep 
resentat-tves  of  the  United  States  of  America  in 
Congress  assembled .-  That  all  that  part  of  the 


Territory  of  the  United  States  included  within  the 
following  limits,  except  such  portions  thereof  as  are 
lereiuafter  expressly  exempted  from  the  opera- 
ions  of  this  act,  to  wit:  beginning  at  a  point  in 
he  Missouri  river  where  the  fortieth  parallel  of 
lorth  latitude  crosses  the  same ;  thence  west  on 
said  parallel  to  the  east  boundary  of  the  Territory 
of  Utah  on  the  summit  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  ; 
:hence  on  said  summit  northward  to  the  forty- 
ninth  parallel  of  north  latitude ;  thence  east  on 
said  parallel  to  the  western  boundary  of  the  Ter 
ritory  of  Minnesota ;  thence  southward  on  said 
boundary  to  the  Missouri  river  ;  thence  down  the 
main  channel  of  said  river  to  the  place  of  begin 
ning,  be,  and  the  same  is  hereby  created  into  a 
temporary  government  by  the  name  of  the  Terri 
tory  of  Nebraska  ;  and  when  admitted  as  a  State 
or  States,  the  said  Territory,  or  any  portion  of  the 
same,  shall  be  received  into  the  Union  with  or 
without  Slavery,  as  their  constitution  may  pre 
scribe  at  the  time  of  their  admission  :  Proriilt'/!, 
That  nothing  in  this  act  contained  shall  be  con 
strued  to  inhibit  the  government  of  the  United 
States  from  dividing  said  Territory  into  two  or 
more  territories,  in  such  manner  and  at  such  times 
as  Congress  shall  deem  convenient  and  proper,  or 
from  attaching  any  portion  of  said  Territory  to 
any  other  State  or  Territory  of  the  United  States : 
Provided  further,  That  nothing  in  this  act  con 
tained  shall  be  construed  to  impair  the  rights  of 
person  or  property  now  pertaining  to  the  Indians 
in  eaid  Territory,  so  long  as  such  rights  shall  re 
main  unextinguished  by  treaty  between  the  Uni 
ted  States  and  such  Indians,  or  to  include  any 
Territory  which,  by  treaty  with  any  Indian  tribe, 
is  not,  without  the  consent  of  said  tribe,  to  be  in 
cluded  within  the  territorial  limits  or  jurisdiction 
of  anv  State  or  Territory  ;  but  all  such  Territory 
shall  "be  excepted  out  of  the  boundaries,  and  con 
stitute  no  part  of  the  Territory  of  Nebraska,  until 
said  tribe  shall  signify  their  assent  to  the  Presi 
dent  of  the  United  States  to  be  included  within 
the  said  Territory  of  Nebraska,  or  to  affect  the 
authority  of  the  government  of  the  United  States 
to  make  any  regulations  respecting  such  Indians, 
their  lands,  property,  or  other  rights,  by  treaty, 
law,  or  otherwise,  which  it  would  have  been 
competent  to  the  government  to  make  if  this  act 
had  never  passed. 

SEC.  2.  That  the  executive  power  and  authori 
ty  in  and  over  said  Territory  of  Nebraska  shall 
be  vested  in  a  governor,  who  shall  hold  his  office 
for  four  years,  and  until  his  successor  shall  be 
appointed  and  qualified,  unless  sooner  removed 
by  the  President  of  the  United  States.  The  gov 
ernor  shall  reside  within  said  Territory,  and  shall 
be  coinmander-in-ehief  of  the  militia  thereof.  He 
may  grant  pardons  and  respites  for  offenses 
against  the  laws  of  said  Territory,  and  r*priev<  I 
for  offenses  against,  the  laws  of  the  United  States, 
until  the  decision  of  the  President  can  be  made 
known  thereon  ;  he  shall  commission  all  < 
who  shall  be  appointed  to  office  under  the  laws 
of  the  said  Territory,  and  shall  take  care  that  the 
laws  be  faithfully  executed.  \ 

SEC.  3.  That  there  shall  be  a  secretary  of  said 
Territory,  who  shall  reside  therein,  and  hold  his 
office  for  five  years,  unless  sooner  removed  by 
the  President  of  the  United  States  ;  he  shall  re 
cord  and  preserve  all  the  laws  and  proceedings 
of  the  legislative  assembly  hereinafter  constitut 
ed,  and  all  the  acts  and  proceedings  of  the  govern 
or  in  his  executive  department ;  he  shall  trar  s- 
mit  one  copy  of  the  laws  and  journals  of  the  le 
gislative  assembly,  wiihin  thirty  days  after  the 
end  of  each  session,  and  one  copy  ot  the  execu 
tive  proceedings  and  official  correspondence 
semi-annually  on  the  first  days  of  January  and 
July  in  each  year,  to  the  President  of  the  United 
States,  and  two  copies  of  the  laws  to  the  Presi 
dent  of  the  Senate  and  to  tke  Speaker  of  the 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  SLAVERY  RESTRICTION. 


House  of  Representatives,  to  be  deposited  in  the 
libraries  of  Congress  ;  and,  in  case  of  the  death, 
removal,  resignation,  or  absence  of  the  governor 
from  the  Territory,  the  secretary  shall  be,  and  he 
is  hereby  authorized  and  required  to  execute  and 
perform  all  the  powers  and  duties  of  the  governor 
during  such  vacancy  or  absence,  or  until  another 
governor  shall  be  duly  appointed  and  qualified  to 
fill  such  vacancy. 

SEC.  4.  That  the  legislative  power  and  authori 
ty  of  said  Territory  shall  be  vested  in  the  governor 
a'ud  a  legislative  assembly.  The  legislative  as 
sembly  shall  consist  of  a  council  and  house  of 
representatives.  The  council  shall  consist  of 
thirteen  members,  having  the  qualifications  of 
voters  as  hereinafter  prescribed,  whose  term  of 
service  shall  continue  two  years.  Tho  house  of 
representatives  shall,  at  its  first  session,  consist 
of  twenty-six  members,  possessing  the  same 
qualifications  as  prescribed  for  members  of  the 
council,  and  whose  term  of  service  shall  continue 
one  year.  The  number  of  representatives  may 
be  increased  by  the  legislative  assembly,  from 
time  to  time,  in  proportion  to  the  increase  of 

gualified  voters  ;  Provided,  That  the  whole  num- 
er  shall  never  exceed  thirty-nine ;  an  apportion 
ment  shall  be  made  as  nearly  equal  as  practica 
ble,  among  the  several  counties  or  districts,  for 
the  election  of  the  council  and  representatives, 
giving  to  each  section  of  the  territory  representa 
tion  in  the  ratio  of  its  qualified  voters  as  nearly 
as  may  be.  And  the  members  of  the  council  and 
of  the  house  of  representatives  shall  reside  in,  and 
be  inhabitants  of,  the  district  or  county,  or  coun 
ties,  for  which  they  maybe  elected,  respectively. 
Previous  to  the  first  election,  the  governor  shall 
cause  a  census,  or  enumeration  of  the  inhabitants 
and  qualified  voters  of  the  several  counties  and 
districts  of  the  territory,  to  be  taken  by  such 
persons  and  in  such  mode  as  the  governor  shall 
designate  and  appoint ;  and  the  persons  so  ap 
pointed  shall  receive  a  reasonable  compensation 
therefor.  And  the  first  election  shall  be  held  at 
such  times,  and  places,  and  be  conducted  in 
such  manner,  both  as  to  the  persons  who  shall 
superintend  such  election,  and  the  returns  there 
of,  as  the  governor  shall  appoint  and  direct ;  and 
he  shall  at  the  same  time  declare  the  number  of 
members  of  the  council  and  house  of  representa 
tives  to  which  each  of  the  counties  or  districts 
shall  be  entitled  under  this  act.  The  persons 
Laving  the  highest  number  of  legal  votes  in  each 
of  said  council  districts  for  members  of  the  coun 
cil,  shall  be  declared  by  the  governor  to  be  duly 
elected  to  the  council ;  aud  the  persons  having 
the  highest  number  of  legal  votes  for  the  house 
of  representatives,  shall  be  declared  by  the 
governor  to  be  duly  elected  members  of 
said  house:  Provided,  That  in  case  two  or 
more  persons  voted  for  shall  have  an  equal 
number  of  votes,  and  in  case  a  vacancy 
shall  otherwise  occur  in  either  branch  of  the 
legislative  assembly,  the  governor  shall  order  a 
new  election ;  and  th#  persons  thus  elected  to  the 
legislative  assembly  shall  meet  at  such  place  and 
on  such  day  as  the  governor  shall  appoint ;  but 
thereafter,  the  time,  place,  and  manner  of  holding 
and  conducting  all  elections  by  the  people,  and 
the  apportioning  the  representation  in  the 
several  counties  or  districts  to  the  council  and 
house  of  representatives,  according  to  the  num 
ber  of  qualified  voters,  shall  be  prescribed  by 
law,  as  well  as  the  day  of  the  commencement  of 
the  regular  sessions  of  the  legislative  assembly: 
Provided,  That  no  session  in  any  one  year  shall 
exceed  the  term  of  forty  days,  except  the  first 
session,  which  may  continue  sixty  days. 

SKC.  5.  That  every  free  white  male  inhabitant 
above  the  age  of  twenty-one  years,  who  shall  be 
an  actual  resident  of  said  territory,  and  shall 
possess  the  qualifications  hereinafter  prescribed. 


shall  be  entitled  to  vote  at  the  first  election,  and 
shall  be  eligible  to  any  office  within  the  said  ter 
ritory  ;  but  the  qualifications  of  voters,  and  of 
holding  office,  at  all  subsequent  elections,  shall 
be  such  as  shall  be  prescribed  by  the  legislative 
assembly  :  Provided,  That  the  right  of  suffrage 
and  of  holding  office  shall  be  exercised  only  by 
citizens  of  the  United  States  and  those  who  shall 
have  declared  on  oath  their  intention  to  become 
such,  and  shall  have  taken  an  oath  to  support 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  and  the 
provisions  of  this  act :  And  provided  further, 
That  no  officer,  soldier,  seaman,  or  marine,  or 
other  person  in  the  army  or  navy  of  the  United 
States,  or  attached  to  troops  in  the  service  of  the 
United  States,  shall  be  allowed  to  vote  or  hold 
office  in  said  territory,  by  reason  of  being  on 
service  therein. 

SEC.  6.  That  the  legislative  power  of  the  terri 
tory  shall  extend  to  all  rightful  subjects  of  legis 
lation  consistent  with  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States  and  the  provisions  of  this  act ;  but 
no  law  shall  be  passed  interfering  with  the  pri 
mary  disposal  of  the  soil ;  no  tax  shall  be  imposed 
upon  the  property  of  the  United  States  ;  nor  shall 
the  lands  or  other  property  of  non-residents  be 
taxed  higher  than  the  lands  or  other  property  of 
residents.  Every  bill  which  shall  have  passed 
the  council  and  house  of  representatives  of  the 
said  territory,  shall,  before  it  become  a  law,  be 
presented  to  the  governor  of  the  territory;  if  he 
approve,  he  shall  sign  it;  but  if  not,  he  shall  re 
turn  it  with  his  objections,  to  the  house  in  which 
it  originated,  who  shall  enter  the  objections  at 
large  on  their  journal,  and  proceed  to  reconsider 
it.  If,  after  such  reconsideration,  two-thirds  of 
that  house  shall  agree  to  pass  the  bill,  it  shall  be 
sent,  together  with  the  objections  to  the  other 
house,  by  which  it  shall  likewise  be  reconsidered, 
and  if  approved  by  two-thirds  of  that  house,  it 
shall  become  a  law.  But  in  all  such  cases  the 
votes  of  both  houses  shall  be  determined  by  yeas 
and  nays,  to  be  entered  on  the  journal  of  each 
house  respectively.  If  any  bill  shall  not  be  re 
turned  by  the  governor,  within  three  days  (Sun 
days  excepted)  after  it  shall  have  been  presented 
to  him,  the  same  shall  be  a  law  in  like  manner  as 
if  he  had  signed  it,  unless  the  assembly,  by  ad 
journment,  prevent  its  return,  in  which  case  it 
shall  not  be  a  law. 

SEC.  7.  That  all  township,  district,  and  county 
officers,  not  herein  otherwise  provided  for,  shall 
be  appointed  or  elected,  as  the  case  may  be,  in 
such  manner  as  shall  be  provided  by  the  gov 
ernor  and  legislative  assembly  of  the  Territory 
of  Nebraska.  The  governor  shall  nominate,  and, 
by  and  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  legis 
lative  council,  appoint  all  officers  not  herein 
otherwise  provided  for  ;  and  in  the  first  instance 
the  governor  alone  may  appoint  all  said  officers, 
who  shall  hold  their  offices  until  the  end  of  the 
first  session  of  the  legislative  assembly;  and  shall 
lay  off  the  necessary  districts  for  members  of  the 
council  and  house  of-representatives,  and  all 
other  officers. 

SEC.  8.  That  no  member  of  the  legislative  as 
sembly  shall  hold,  or  be  appointed  to,  any  office 
which  shall  have  been  created,  or  the  salary  or 
or  emoluments  of  which  shallhayebcen  increased, 
while  he  was  a  member,  during  the  term  for 
which  he  was  elected,  and  for  one  year  after  the 
expiration  of  such  term  ;  but  this  restriction  shall 
not  be  applicable  to  members  of  the  first  legisla 
tive  assembly;  and  no  person  holding  a  commis 
sion  or  appointment  under  the  United  States,  ex 
cept  postmasters,  shall  be  a  member  of  the  legis 
lative  assembly,  or  shall  hold  any  office  under 
the  government  of  said  territory. 

SEC.  9.  That  the  judicial  power  of  said  Territo 
ry  shall  be  vested  in  a  supreme  court,  district 
courts,  probate  courts,  and  in  justices  of  tho 


THE  KANSAS-NEBRASKA  STRUGGLE. 


peace.  The  supreme  court  shall  consist  of  a 
chief  justice  and  two  associate  justices,  any  two 
of  whom  shall  constitute  a  quorum,  and  who 
shall  hold  a  term  at  the  seat  of  government  of 
said  Territory  annually,  and  they  shall  hold  their 
offices  during  the  period  of  four  years,  and  until 
their  successors  shall  be  appointed  and  qualified. 
The  said  Territory  shall  be  divided  into  three  judi 
cial  districts,  and  a  district  court  shall  be  held  in 
each  of  said  districts  by  one  of  the  justices  of  the 
supreme  court,  at  such  times  and  places  as  may 
be  pi-escribed  by  law  ;  and  the  said  judges  shall, 
after  their  appointments,  respectively,  reside  in 
the  district  which  shall  be  assigned  them.  The 
jurisdiction  of  the  several  courts  herein  provided 
for,  both  appellate  and  original,  and  that  of  the 
probate  courts  and  of  justices  of  the  peace,  shall 
be  as  limited  bylaw:  Provided,  That  justices  of 
the  peace  shall  not  have  jurisdiction  of  any  mat 
ter  in  controversy  when  the  title  or  boundaries 
of  laud  may  be  in  dispute,  or  where  the  debt  or 
sum  claimed  shall  exceed  one  hundred  dollars  ; 
and  the  said  supreme  and  district  courts,  re 
spectively,  shall  possess  chancery  as  well  as  com 
mon  law  jurisdiction.  Each  district  court,  or  the 
judge  thereof,  shall  appoint  its  clerk,  who  shall 
also  be  the  register  in  chancery,  and  shall  keep 
his  office  at  the  place  where  the  court  may  be 
held.  Writs  of  error,  bills  of  exception,  and  ap 
peals  shall  be  allowed  in  all  cases  from  the  final 
decision  of  said  district  courts  to  the  supreme 
court,  under  such  regulations  as  may  be  pre 
scribed  by  law ;  but  in  no  case  removed  to  the 
supreme  court  shall  trial  by  jury  be  allowed  in 
said  court.  The  supreme  court,  or  the  justices 
thereof,  shall  appoint  its  own  clerk,  and  every 
clerk  shall  hold  his  office  at  the  pleasure  of  the 
court  for  which  he  shall  have  been  appointed. 
Writs  of  error,  and  appeals  from  the  final  decision 
of  said  supreme  court,  shall  be  allowed,  and  may 
be  taken  to  the  supreme  court  of  the  United 
States,  in  the  same  manner  and  under  the  same  re 
gulations  as  from  the  circuit  courts  of  the  United 
States,  where  the  value  of  the  property,  or  the 
amount  in  controversy,  to  be  ascertained  by  the 
oath  or  affirmation  of  cither  party,  or  other  com 
petent  witness,  shall  exceed  one  thousand  dol 
lars  ;  except  only  that  in  all  cases  involving  title 
to  slaves,  the  said  writs  of  error  or  appeals  shall 
be  allowed  and  decided  by  the  said  supreme 
court,  without  regard  to  the  value  of  the  matter, 
property,  or  title  in  controversy  ;  and  except  also 
that  a  writ  of  error  or  appeal  shall  also  be  allowed 
to  the  supreme  court  of  the  United  States,  from 
the  decisions  of  the  said  supreme  court  created 
by  this  act,  or  of  any  judge  thereof,  or  of  the  dis 
trict  courts  created  by  this  act,  or  of  any  judge 
thereof,  upon  any  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  involv 
ing  the  question  of  personal  freedom ;  Provided, 
That  nothing  herein  contained  shall  be  construed 
to  apply  to  or  affect  the  provisions  of  the  "  act 
respecting  fugitives  from  justice,  and  persons  es 
caping  from  the  service  of  their  masters,"  ap 
proved  February  twelfth,  seventeen  hundred  and 
ninety-three,  and  the  "  act  to  amend  and  supple 
mentary  to  the  aforesaid  act,"  approved  Septem 
ber  eighteenth,  eighteen  hundred  and  fifty  ;  and 
each  of  the  said  district  courts  shall  have  and  ex 
ercise  the  same  jurisdiction  in  all  cases  arising 
under  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  the  United 
States,  as  is  vested  in  the  circuit  and  district 
courts  of  the  United  States  ;  and  the  said  supreme 
and  district  courts  of  the  said  Territory,  and  the 
respective  Judges  thereof,  shall  and  may  grant 
writs  of  habeas  corpus  in  all  cases  in  which  the 
same  are  granted  oy  the  judges  of  the  United 
States  in  the  District  of  Columbia ;  and  the  first 
six  days  of  every  term  of  said  courts,  or  so  much 
thereof  as  shall  be  necessary,  shall  be  appropriat 
ed  to  the  trial  of  causes  arising  under  the  said 
Constitution  and  laws,  and  writs  of  error  and  ap 


peal  in  all  such  cases  shall  be  made  to  the  su 
preme  court  of  said  Territory,  the  same  as  in 
other  cases.  The  said  clerk  shall  receive  in  all 
such  cases  the  same  fees  which  the  clerks  of  the 
district  courts  of  Utah  Territory  now  receive  for 
similar  services. 

SEC.  10.  That  the  provisions  of  an  act  entitled 
"  An  act  respecting  fugitives  from  justice,  and 
persons  escaping  from  the  service  of  their  mas 
ters,"  approved  February  twelve,  seventeen 
hundred  and  ninety-three,  and  the  provisions  of 
the  act  entitled  "  An  act  to  amend,  and  supple 
mentary  to,  the  aforesaid  act,"  approved  Septem 
ber  eighteen,  eighteen  hundred  and  fifty,  be,  and 
the  same  are  hereby,  declared  to  extend  to,  and 
be  in  full  force  within,  the  limits  of  said  Territory 
of  Nebraska. 

SEC.  11.  That  there  shall  be  appointed  an  at 
torney  for  said  Territory,  who  shall  continue  in 
office  for  four  years,  and  until  his  successor  shall 
be  appointed  and  qualified,  unless  sooner  re- 
movca  by  the  President,  and  who  shall  receive 
the  same  fees  and  salary  as  the  attorney  of  the 
United  States  for  the  present  Territory  of  Utah. 
There  shall  also  be  a  marshal  for  the  Territory 
appointed,  who  shall  hold  his  office  for  four 
years,  and  until  his  successor  shall  be  appointed 
and  qualified,  unless  sooner  removed  by  the  Pre 
sident,  and  who  shall  execute  all  processes  issu 
ing  from  the  said  courts  when  exercising  their 
jurisdiction  as  circuit,  and  district  courts  of  the 
United  States ;  he  shall  perform  the  duties,  be 
subject  to  the  same  regulations  and  penalties, 
and  be  entitled  to  the  same  fees  as  the  m-'irshal  of 
the  district  court  of  the  United  States  for  the 
present  Territory  of  Utah,  and  shall,  in  addition, 
be  paid  two  hundred  dollars  annually  as  a  com 
pensation  for  extra  services. 

SEC.  12.  That  the  governor,  secretary,  chief 
justice,  and  associate  justices,  attorney  and  mar 
shal,  shall  be  nominated,  and,  by  and  with  the 
advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate,  appointed  by 
the  President  of  the  United  States.  The  govern 
or  and  secretary  to  be  appointed  as  aforesaid, 
shall,  before  they  act  as  such,  respectively  take 
an  oath  or  affirmation  by  the  laws  now  in  force 
therein,  or  before  the  chief  justice  or  some  asso 
ciate  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States,  to  support  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States,  and  faithfully  to  discharge  the  duties  of 
their  respective  offices,  which  said  oaths,  when 
so  taken,  shall  be  certified  by  the  person  by 
whom  the  same  shall  have  been  taken  ;  and  such 
certificates  shall  be  received  and  recorded  by  the 
said  secretary  among  the  executive  proceedings  : 
and  the  chief  justice  and  associate  justices,  and 
all  other  civil  officers  in  said  Territory,  before 
they  act  as  such,  shall  take  a  like  oath  or  affirm 
ation  before  the  said  governor  or  secretary,  or 
eome  judge  or  justice  of  the  peace  of  the  territory 
who  may  be  duly  commissioned  and  qualified, 
which  said  oath  or  affirmation  shall  be  certified 
and  transmitted  by  the  person  taking  the  same  to 
the  secretary,  to  be  by  him  recorded  as  afore 
said  ;  and  afterwards  the  like  oath  or  affirma 
tion  shall  be  taken,  certified,  and  recorded,  in 
such  manner  and  form  as  may  be  prescribed  by 
law.  The  governor  shall  receive  an  annual  sala 
ry  of  two  thousand  five  hundred  dollars.  The 
chief  justice  and  associate  justices  shall  receive 
an  annual  salary  of  two  thousand  dollars.  The 
secretary  shall  receive  an  annual  salary  of 
two  thousand  dollars.  The  said  salaries  shall 
be  paid  quarter-yearly,  from  the  dates  of  the  re 
spective  appointments,  at  the  Treasury  of  the 
United  States  ;  but  no  such  payment  shall  be 
made  until  said  officers  shall  have  entered  upon 
the  duties  of  their  respective  appointments.  The 
members  of  the  legislative  assembly  shall  be 
entitled  to  receive  three  dollars  each  per  day  du 
ring  their  attendance  at  the  sessions  thereof,  and 


88 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  SLAVERY  RESTRICTION. 


three  dollars  each  for  every  twenty  miles'  travel 
in  going:  to,  and  returning  from,  the  said  sessions, 
estimated  according  to  the  nearest  usually-trav 
eled  route  ;  and  an  additional  allowance  of  three 
dollars  shall  be  paid  to  the  presiding  officer  of 
each  house  for  each  day  he  shall  so  preside.  And 
a  chief  clerk,  one  assistant  clerk,  a  sergeant-at- 
arms,  and  door  keeper  may  be  chosen  for  each 
house  ;  and  the  chief  clerk  shall  receive  four  dol 
lars  per  day,  and  the  said  other  officers  three  dol 
lars  per  day,  during  the  session  of  the  legislative 
assembly  ;  but,  no  other  officer  shall  be  paid  by 
the  United  States  :  Provided,  That  there  shall  be 
but  one  session  of  the  legislature  annually,  un 
less,  on  an  exlraordinary  occasion,  the  governor 
shall  think  proper  to  call  the  legislature  together. 
There  shall  be  appropriated,  annually,  the  usual 
sum,  to  be  expended  oy  the  governor  to  defray 
the  contingent  expenses  of  the  territory,  includ 
ing  the  salary  of  a  clerk  of  the  executive  depart 
ment  ;  and  there  shall  also  be  appropriated  annu 
ally,  a  sufficient  sum.  to  be  expended  by  the 
secretary  of  the  Territory,  and  upon  an  estimate  to 
be  made  by  the  secretary  of  the  Treasury  of  the 
United  States,  to  defray  the  expenses  of  the  legis 
lative  assembly,  the  printing  of  the  laws,  and 
other  incidental  expenses  ;  and  the  governor  and 
secretary  of  the  Territory  shall,  in  the  disburse 
ment  of  all  moneys  intrusted  to  them,  be  govern 
ed  solely  by  the  instructions  of  the  secretary  of 
the  Treasury  of  the  United  States,  and  shall,  semi- 
annually,  account  to  the  said  secretary  for  the 
manner  in  which  the  aforesaid  moneys  shall  have 
been  expended ;  and  no  expenditure  shall  be 
made  by  said  legislative  assembly  for  objects  not 
specially  authorized  by  the  acts  of  Congress 
making  the  appropriations,  nor  beyond  the  sums 
thus  appropriated  for  such  objects. 

SEC.  13.  That  the  legislative  assembly  of  the 
Territory  of  Nebraska  shall  hold  its  first  session 
at  such  time  and  place  in  said  Territory  as  the 
governor  thereof  shall  appoint  and  direct ;  and  at 
Baid  first  session,  or  as  soon  thereafter  as  they 
shall  deem  expedient,  the  governor  and  legisla 
tive  assembly  shall  proceed  to  locate  and  estab 
lish  the  seat  of  government  for  said  Territory  at 
such  place  as  they  may  deem  eligible ;  which 
place,  however,  shall  thereafter  be  subject  to  be 
changed  by  the  said  governor  and  legislative  as 
sembly. 

SEC.  14.  That  a  delegate  to  the  House  of  Rep 
resentatives  of  the  United  States,  to  serve  for  the 
term  of  two  years,  who  shall  be  a  citizen  of  the 
United  States,  may  be  elected  by  the  voters  quali 
fied  to  elect  members  of  the  legislative  assembly, 
who  shall  be  entitled  to  the  same  rights  and  privi 
leges  as  are  exercised  and  enjoyed  by  the  delegates 
from  the  several  other  territories  of  the  United 
States  to  the  said  House  of  Representatives ;  but 
the  delegate  first  elected  shall  hold  his  seat  only 
during  the  term  of  the  Congress  to  which  he  shall 
be  elected.  The  first  election  shall  be  held  at 
such  time  and  places,  and  be  conducted  in  such 
manner,  as  the  governor  shall  appoint  and  di 
rect  ;  and  at  all  subsequent  elections,  the  times, 
places,  and  manner  of  holding  the  elections  shall 
be  prescribed  by  law.  The  person  having  the 
greatest  number  of  votes  shall  be  declared  by  the 
governor  to  be  duly  elected,  and  a  certificate 
thereof  shall  be  given  accordingly.  That  the 
Constitution  and  all  the  laws  of  the  United 
States  which  are  not  locally  inapplicable,  shall 
have  the  same  force  and  effect  within  the  said 
Territory  of  Nebraska  as  elsewhere  within 
the  United  States,  except  the  eighth  section 
of  the  act  preparatory  to  the  admission  of  Mis 
souri  into  the  Union,  approved  March  sixth, 
eighteen  hundred  and  twenty,  which  being  in 
consistent  with  the  principle  of  non-intervention 
by  Congress  with  Slavery  in  the  States  and  Ter 
ritories,  us  recognized  by  the  legislation  of  eight 


een  hundred  and  fifty,  commonly  called  the  Com 
promise  Measures,  is  hereby  declared  inoperative 
and  void  ;  it  being  the  true  intent  and  meaning 
of  this  act  not  to  legislate  Slavery  info  any  Ter 
ritory  or  State,  nor  to  exclude  it*  therefrom,  but 
to  leave  the  people  thereof  perfectly  free  to  form 
and  regulate  their  domestic  institutions  in  their 
own  way,  subject  only  to  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States  :  Provided,  That  nothing  herein 
contained  shall  be  construed  to  revive  or  put  in 
force  any  law  or  regulation  which  may  have  ex 
isted  prior  to  the  act  of  sixth  of  March,  eighteen 
hundred  and  twenty,  either  protecting,  establish 
ing,  pi-ohibiting  or  abolishing,  Slavery. 

SEC.  15.  That  there  shall  hereafter  be  appro 
priated,  as  has  been  customary  for  the  territorial 
governments,  a  sufficient  amount,  to  be  expended 
under  the  direction  of  the  said  governor  of  the 
Territory  of  Nebraska,  not  exceeding  the  sums 
heretofore  appropriated  for  similar  objects,  for 
the  erection  of  suitable  public  buildings  at  the 
seat  of  government,  and  for  the  purchase  of  a 
library  to  be  kept  at  the  seat  of  government  for 
the  use  of  the  governor,  legislative  assembly, 
judges  of  the  supreme  court,  secretary,  marshal, 
and  attorney  of  said  territory,  and  such  other 
persons,  and  under  such  regulations  as  shall  be 
prescribed  by  law. 

SEC.  16.  That  when  the  lands  in  the  said  ter 
ritory  shall  be  surveyed  under  the  direction  of 
the  government  of  the  United  States,  prepara 
tory  to  bringing  same  into  market,  sections  num 
bered  sixteen  and  thirty-six,  in  each  township  in 
said  territory,  shall  be,  and  the  same  are  hereby, 
reserved  for  the  purpose  of  being  applied  to 
schools  in  said  teritory,  and  in  the  States  and  Ter 
ritories  hereafter  to  be  erected  oat  of  the  same. 

SEC.  17.  That,  until  otherwise  provided  bylaw, 
the  governor  of  said  Territory  may  define  the 
judicial  districts  of  said  Territory,  and  assign  the 
judges  who  may  be  appointed  for  said  Territory 
to  the  several  districts ;  and  also  appoint  the 
times  and  places  for  holding  courts  in  the  several 
counties  or  subdivisions  in  each  of  said  judicial 
districts  by  proclamation',  to  be  issued  by  him ; 
but  the  legislative  assembly,  at  their  first,  or  any 
subsequent  session,  may  organize,  alter,  or  modi 
fy  such  judicial  districts,  and  assign  the  judges, 
and  alter  the  times  and  places  of  holding  the 
courts,  as  to  them  shall  seem  proper  and  con 
venient. 

SEC.  18.  That  all  officers  to  be  appointed  by 
the  President,  by  and  with  the  advice  and  consent 
of  the  Senate,  for  the  Territory  of  Nebraska,  who, 
by  virtue  of  the  provisions  ot  any  law  now  exist 
ing,  or  which  may  be  enacted  during  the  present 
Congress,  are  required  to  give  security  for  moneys 
that  may  be  intrusted  with  them  for  disburse 
ments,  shall  give  such  security,  at  such  time  and 
place,  and  in  such  manner  as  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  may  prescribe. 

SEC.  19.  That  all  that  part  of  the  territory  of 
the  United  States  included  within  the  following 
limits,  except  such  portions  thereof  as  are  here 
inafter  expressly  exempted  from  the  operations 
of  this  act,  to  wit :  beginning  at  a  point  on  the 
western  boundary  of  the  State  of  Missouri,  where 
the  thirty-seventh  parallel  of  north  latitude  crosses 
the  same;  thence  west  on  said  parallel  to  the 
eastern  boundary  of  New-Mexico ;  thence  north 
on  said  boundary  to  latitude  thirty-eight ;  thence 
following  said  boundary  westward  to  the  east 
boundary  of  the  Territory  of  Utah,  on  the  summit 
of  the  Rocky  Mountains ;  thence  northward  on 
said  sunimit  to  the  fortieth  parallel  of  latitude ; 
thence  east  on  said  parallel  to  the  western  bound 
ary  of  the  State  of  Missouri ;  thence  south  with 
the  western  boundary  of  said  State  to  the  placo 
of  beginning,  be,  and  the  same  is  hereby,  created 
into  a  temporary  government  by  the  name  of  the 
Territory  of  Kansas;  and  when  admitted  as  a 


THE  KANSAS-NEBRASKA  STRUGGLE. 


89 


State  or  States,  the  said  Territory,  or  any  por 
tion  of  the  same,  shall  be  received  into  the  llnion 
with  or  without  Slavery,  as  their  Constitution 
may  prescribe  at  the  time  of  their  admission : 
Provided,  That  nothing  in  this  act  contained 
shall  be  construed  to  inhibit  the  Government  of 
the  United  States  from  dividing  said  Territory 
into  two  or  more  territories,  in  such  manner  and 
at  such  times  as  Congress  shall  deem  convenient 
and  proper,  or  from  attaching  any  portion  of  said 
Territory  to  any  other  State  or  Territory  of  the 
United  States :  Provided  further,  That  nothing 
in  this  act  contained  shall  be  so  construed  as  to 
impair  the  rights  of  person  or  property  now  per 
taining  to  the  Indians  in  said  Territory,  so  long 
as  such  rights  shall  remain  unextinguished  by 
treaty  between  the  United  States  and  such  Indians, 
or  to  include  any  territory  which,  by  treaty  with 
any  Indian  tribe,  is  not,  without  the  consent  of 
said  tribe,  to  be  included  within  the  territorial 
limits  or  jurisdiction  of  any  State  or  Territory  ; 
but  all  such  territory  shall  be  excepted  out  of  the 
boundaries,  and  constitute  no  part  of  the  Terri 
tory  of  Kansas,  until  said  tribe  shall  signify  their 
assent  to  the  President  of  the  United  States  to  be 
included  within  the  said  Territory  of  Kansas,  or 
to  affect  the  authority  of  the  Government  of  the 
United  States  to  make  any  regulation  respecting 
such  Indians,  their  lands,  property,  or  otherrights, 
by  treaty,  law,  or  otherwise,  which  it  would  have 
been  competent  to  the  Government  to  make  if 
this  act  had  never  passed. 

[The  next  seventeen  sections  substantially  re 
peat  the  foregoing,  save  that  their  provisions 
apply  to  Kansas  instead  of  Nebraska.  The  final 
section  refers  to  both  Territories,  as  follows  :] 

SEC.  37.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  that  all 
treaties,  laws,  and  other  engagements  made  by 
the  Government  of  the  United  States  with  the 
Indian  tribes  inhabiting  the  territories  embraced 
within  this  act,  shall  be  faithfully  and  rigidly 
observed,  notwithstanding  anything  contained  in 
this  act ;  and  that  the  existing  agencies  and  su- 
perintendencies  of  said  Indians  be  continued  with 
the  same  powers  and  duties  which  are  now  pre 
scribed  by  law,  except  that  the  President  of  the 
United  States  may,  at  his  discretion,  change  the 
location  of  the  office  of  superintendent. 


No  action  of  any  moment  with  regard  to 
Slavery  in  the  Territories  was  taken  in 
either  House  at  the  Second  (short)  Session 
of  this  Congress. 


KANSAS     ORGANIZED. 

The  struggle  respecting  Slavery  in 
Kansas  which  followed  the  organization  of 
that  Territory,  under  the  Provisions  of  the 
act  just  recited,  is  yet  too  recent  and  incom 
plete  to  justify  an  attempt  to  write  its  his 
tory.  All  that  can  be  prudently  done  as 
yet,  is  to  collect  and  arrange  the  most  im 
portant  documents  in  which  its  incidents 
are  detailed,  and  its  principles  discussed,  and 
this  we  now  proceed  to  do,  without  attempt 
ing  to  reconcile  the  gloomy  discrepancies 
between  the  statements  submitted  on  the 
one  side  and  on  the  other,  respectively. 
Though  it  will  not  be  possible  in  this 
course  to  avoid  repeated  statements  of  the 
same  fact,  and  an  occasional  devotion  of 
undue  space  to  a  point  undeserving  of  such 


elaborate  treatment,  yet,  the  measurable 
authenticity  of  statement,  thus  secured,  and 
the  light  cast  on  the  general  theme  by  the 
conflicting  views  thus  presented,  serve  to 
give  this  the  preference  over  any  other 
mode  of  narrating  so  nearly  cotemporaneous 
with  their  chronicle  as  these.  We  proceed, 
then,  with  our  record,  which  must  hence 
forth  consist  mainly  of  public  documents, 
submitted  to  the  current  Congress,  connect 
ed  by  the  merest  thread  of  narrative. 

Dec.  3rd,  1855.— The  XXXIVth  Con 
gress  convened  at  the  Capital,  in  Washing 
ton, — Jesse  D.  Bright  of  Ind.  holding  over 
as  President  pro  tempore  of  the  Senate,  in 
place  of  Vice-President  William  R.  King 
of  Alabama,  deceased.  A  quorum  of 
either  House  was  found  to  be  present. 

But  the  House  found  itself  unable  to  or 
ganize  by  the  choice  of  a  Speaker,  until  after 
an  unprecedented  struggle  of  nine  weeks' 
duration.  Finally,  on  Saturday,  Feb.  20th, 
1856,  the  plurality-rule  was  adopted — Yeas 
113  ;  Nays  104 — and  the  House  proceeded 
under  it  to  its  one  hundred  and  thirty-third 
ballot  for  speaker,  when  Nathaniel  P. 
Banks,  Jr.,  (anti-Nebraska)  of  Massachu- 
sets,  was  chosen,  having  103  votes  to  100, 
for  William  Aiken  of  South  Carolina. 
Eleven  votes  scattered  on  other  persons  did 
not  count  against  a  choice.  It  was  there 
fore  resolved — Yeas  155  ;  Nays  40 — that 
Mr.  Banks  was  duly  elected  Speaker, 

But,  during  the  pendency  of  this  election, 
the  President  had  transmitted  to  both 
Houses,  first  (Dec.  31st)  his  Annual  Mes 
sage,  and  next  (Jan.  24th)  a  special  mes 
sage  with  regard  to  the  condition  of  Kansas, 
which  is  as  follows : 

MESSAGE  OF  THE  PRESIDENT. 

WASHINGTON,  Jan.  24, 1856. 

To  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  : 

Circumstances  have  occurred  to  disturb  the 
course  of  governmental  organization  in  the  Ter 
ritory  of  Kansas,  and  produce  there  a  condition 
of  things  which  renders  it  incumbent  on  me  to 
call  your  attention  to  the  subject,  and  urgently 
recommend  the  adoption  by  you  of  such  measures 
of  legislation  as  the  grave  exigencies  of  the  case 
appear  to  require. 

A  brief  exposition  of  the  circumstances  refer 
red  to,  and  of  their  causes,  will  be  necessary  to 
the  full  understanding  of  the  recommendations 
which  it  is  proposed  to  submit. 

The  act  to  organize  the  Territories  of  Nebras 
ka  and  Kansas  was  a  manifestation  of  the  legis 
lative  opinion  of  Congress  on  two  great  points 
of  constitutional  construction :  One,  that  the  de 
signation  of  the  boundaries  of  a  new  Territory, 
and  provision  for  its  political  organization  and 
administration  ns  a  Territory,  are  measures 
which  of  right  fall  within  the  powers  of  the  Gene 
ral  Government ;  and  the  other,  that  the  inhab 
itants  of  any  such  Territory,  considered  as  an 
inchoate  State,  are  entitled,  in  the  exercise  of 
self-  government,  to  determine  for  themselves 
what  shall  be  their  own  domestic  institutions, 
subject  only  to  the  Constitution  and  the  laws  duly 
enacted  by  Congress  under  it,  and  to  the  power 
of  the  existing  States  to  decide,  according  to  the 


90 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  SLAVERY  RESTRICTION. 


provisions  and  principles  of  the  Constitution,  at 
what  time  the  Territory  shall  be  received  as  a 
State  into  the  Union.  Such  are  the  great  politi 
cal  rights  which  are  solemnly  declared  and  affirm 
ed  by  that  act. 

Based  upon  this  theory,  the  act  of  Congress 
defined  for  each  Territory  the  outlines  of  repub 
lican  government,  distributing  public  authority 
among  the  lawfully  created  agents — executive, 
judicial  and  legislative— to  be  appointed  either 
by  the  General  Government  or  by  the  Territory. 
The  legislative  functions  were  intrusted  to  a 
Council  and  a  House  of  Representatives,  duly 
elected  and  empowered  to  enact  all  the  local  laws 
which  they  might  deem  essential  to  then*  pros 
perity,  happiness  and  good  government.  Acting 
in  the  same  spirit,  Congress  also  defined  the  per 
sons  who  were  in  the  first  instance  to  be  con 
sidered  as  the  people  of  each  Territory ;  enact 
ing  that  every  free  white  male  inhabitant  of  the 
same  above  the  age  of  twenty-one  years,  being 
an  actual  resident  thereof,  and  possessing  the 
qualifications  hereafter  described,  should  be  en 
titled  to  vote  at  the  first  election,  and  be  eligible 
to  any  office  within  the  Territory ;  but  that  the 
qualifications  of  voters  and  holding  office  at  all 
subsequent  elections  should  be  such  as  might  be 
prescribed  by  the  Legislative  Assembly  :  Provi 
ded,  hoicevcr,  That  the  right  of  suffrage  and  of 
holding  office  should  be  exercised  only  by  citi 
zens  of  the  United  States,  and  those  who  should 
have  declared  on  oath  their  intention  to  become 
such,  and  have  taken  an  oath  to  support  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States  and  the  provi 
sions  of  the  act:  And  provided,  further,  That  no 
officer,  soldier,  seaman  or  marine,  or  other  per 
son  in  the  army  or  navy  of  the  United  States,  or 
attached  to  troops  in  their  service,  should  be  al 
lowed  to  vote  or  hold  office  in  either  Territory  by 
reason  of  being  on  service  therein. 

Such  of  the  public  officers  of  the  Territories  as, 
by  the  provisions  of  the  act,  were  to  be  appoint 
ed  by  the  General  Government,  including  the 
Governors,  were  appointed  and  commissioned  in 
due  season — the  law  having  been  enacted  on  the 
30th  of  May,  1854,  and  the  commission  of  the 
Governor  of  the  Territory  of  Nebraska  being 
dated  on  the  2nd  day  of  August,  1854,  and  ot 
the  Territories  of  Kansas  on  the  29th  day  of 
June,  1854. 

Among  the  duties  imposed  by  the  act  on  the 
governors,  was  that  of  directing  and  superintend 
ing  the  political  organization  of  the  respective 
Territories.  The  Governor  of  Kansas  was  re 
quired  to  cause  a  census  or  enumeration  of  the 
inhabitants  and  qualified  voters  of  the  several 
counties  and  districts  of  the  Territory  to  be  taken, 
by  such  persons  and  in  such  mode  as  he  might 
designate  and  appoint ;  to  appoint  and  direct  the 
time  and  places  of  holding  the  first  elections,  and 
the  manner  of  conducting  them,  both  as  to  the 
persons  to  superintend  such  elections,  and  the  re 
turns  thereof;  to  declare  the  number  of  the  mem 
bers  of  the  Council  and  House  of  Representatives 
for  each  county  or  district ;  to  declare  what  per 
sons  .might  appear  to  be  duly  elected;  and  to 
appoint  the  time  and  place  of  the  first  meeting  of 
the  Legislative  Assembly.  In  substance,  the 
same  duties  were  devolved  on  the  Governor  of 
Nebraska. 

_  While,  by  this  act,  the  principle  of  constitu 
tion  for  each  of  the  Territories  was  one  and  the 
same,  and  the  details  of  organic  legislation  re 
garding  both  were  as  nearly  as  could  be  identical, 
and  while  the  Territory  of  Nebraska  was  tran 
quilly  and  successfully  organized  in  the  due 
course  of  law,  and  its  first  Legislative  Assembly 
met  on  the  16th  of  January,  1855,  the  organiza 
tion  of  Kansas  was  long  delayed,  and  has  been 
attended  with  serious  difficulties  and  embarrass 
ments,  partly  the  consequence  of  local  mal 


administration,  and  partly  of  the  unjustifiable 
interference  of  the  inhabitants  of  some  of  the 
States,  foreign  by  residence,  interests,  and  rights 
to  the  Territory. 

The  Governor  of  the  Territory  of  Kansas,  com 
missioned,  as  before  stated,  on  the  29th  of  June, 
1854,  did  not  reach  the  designated  seat  of  his 
government  until  the  7th  of  the  ensuing  October, 
and  even  then  failed  to  make  the  first  step  in  its 
legal  organization — that  of  ordering  the  census 
or  enumeration  of  its  inhabitants — until  so  late 
a  day  that  the  election  of  the  members  of  the 
Legislative  Assembly  did  not  take  place  until 
the  30th  of  March,  1855,  nor  its  meeting  until  the 
2d  of  July,  1855;  so  that,  for  a  year  after  the 
Territory  was  constituted  by  the  act  of  Congress, 
and  the  officers  to  be  appointed  by  the  Federal 
Executive  had  been  commissioned,  it  was  without 
a  complete  government,  without  any  legislative 
authority,  without  local  law,  and,  of  course,  with 
out  the  ordinary  guarantees  of  peace  and  public 
order. 

In  other  respects,  the  Governor,  instead  of  ex 
ercising  constant  vigilance  and  putting  forth  all 
his  energies  to  prevent  or  counteract  the  tenden 
cies  to  illegality  which  are  prone  to  exist  in  all 
imperfectly-organized  and  newly-associated  com 
munities,  allowed  his  attention  to  be  diverted 
from  official  obligation  by  other  objects,  and 
himself  set  an  example  of  the  violation  of  law  in 
the  performance  of  acts  which  rendered  it  my 
duty,  in  the  sequel,  to  remove  him  from  the  office 
of  chief  executive  magistrate  of  the  Territory. 

Before  the  requisite  preparation  was  accom 
plished  for  election  of  a  Territorial  Legislature, 
an  election  of  delegate  to  Congress  had  been  held 
in  the  Territory  on  the  29th  day  of  November, 
1854,  and  the  delegate  took  his  seat  in  the  House 
of  Representatives  without  challenge.  If  arrange 
ments  had  been  perfected  by  the  Governor  so 
that  the  election  for  members  of  the  Legislative 
Assembly  might  be  held  in  the  several  precincts 
at  the  same  time  as  for  delegate  to  Congress,  any 
question  appertaining  to  the  qualification  of  the 
persons  voting  as  people  of  the  Territory,  would 
have  passed  necessarily  and  at  once  under  the 
supervision  of  Congress,  as  the  judge  of  the  va 
lidity  of  the  return  of  the  delegate,  and  would 
have  been  determined  before  conflicting  passions 
had  become  inflamed  by  time,  and  before  oppor 
tunity  could  have  been  afforded  for  systematic 
interference  of  the  people  of  individual  States. 

This  interference,  in  so  far  as  concerns  its 
primary  causes  and  _its  immediate  commence 
ment,  was  one  of  the  incidents  of  that  pernicious 
agitation  on  the  subject  of  the  condition  of  the 
colored  persons  held  to  service  iir  some  of  the 
States,  which  has  so  long  disturbed  "the  repose  of 
our  country,  and  excited  individuals,  otherwise 
patriotic  and  law-abiding,  to  toil  with  misdirected 
zeal  in  the  attempt  to  propagate  their  social 
theories  by  the  perversion  and  abuse  of  the  powers 
of  Congress. 

The  persons  and  parties  whom  the  tenor  of  the 
act  to  organize  the  Territories  of  Nebraska  and 
Kansas  thwarted  in  the  endeavor  to  impose, 
through  the  agency  of  Congress,  their  particular 
views  of  social  organization  on  the  people  of  the 
future  new  States,  now  perceiving  that  the  policy 
of  leaving  the  inhabitants  of  each  State  to  judge 
for  themselves  in  this  respect  was  ineradicably 
rooted  in  the  convictions  of  the  people  of  the 
Union,  then  had  recourse,  in  the  pursuit  of  their 
general  object,  to  the  extraordinary  measure  of 
propagandist  colonization  of  the  "Territory  of 
Kansas,  to  prevent  the  free  and  natural  action 
of  its  inhabitants  in  its  internal  organization,  and 
thus  to  anticipate  or  to  force  the  determination 
of  that  question  in  this  inchoate  State. 

With  such  views,  associations  were  organized 
in  some  of  the  States,  and  their  purpose  was  pro- 


THE  KANSAS-NEBRASKA  STRUGGLE. 


91 


claimed  through  the  press  in  language  extremely 
irritating  and  offensive  to  those  of  whom  the 
colonists  were  to  become  the  neighbors.  Those 
designs  and  acts  had  the  necessary  consequence 
to  awaken  emotions  of  intense  Indignation  in 
States  near  to  the  Territory  of  Kansas,  and  espe 
cially  in  the  adjoining  State  of  Missouri,  whose 
domestic  peace  was  thus  the  most  directly  en 
dangered;  but  they  are  far  from  justifying  the 
illegal  and  reprehensible  counter-movements 
which  ensued. 

Under  these  inauspicious  circumstances,  the 
primary  elections  for  members  of  the  Legislative 
Assembly  were  held  in  most,  if  not  all,  of  the 
precincts,  at  the  time  and  the  places  and  by  the 
persons  designated  and  appointed  by  the  Govern 
or,  according  to  law. 

Angry  accusations  that  illegal  votes  had  been 
polled,  abounded  on  all  sides,  and  imputations 
were  made  both  of  fraud  arid  violence.  But  the 
Governor,  in  the  exercise  of  the  power  and  the 
discharge  of  the  duty  conferred  and  imposed  by 
law  on  him  alone,  officially  received  and  con 
sidered  the  returns;  declared  a  large  majority  of 
the  members  of  the  Council  and  the  House  of 
Eepresentatives  a  duly  elected  ;"  withheld  certi 
ficates  from  others  because  of  alleged  illegality 
of  votes  i  appointed  a  new  election  to  supply  the 

Elace  of  the  persons  not  certified;  and  thus,  at 
mgth,  in  all  the  forms  of  statute,  and  with  his 
own  official  authentication,  complete  legality  was 
given  to  the  first  Legislative  Assembly  of  the 
Territory. 

Those  decisions  of  the  returning-officers  and  of 
the  Governor  are  final,  except  that  by  the  par 
liamentary  usage  of  the  country  applied  to  the 
organic  law,  it  may  be  conceded  that  each  House 
of  the  Assembly  must  have  been  competent  to  de 
termine,  in  the  last  resort,  the  qualifications  and 
the  election  of  its  members.  The  subject  was,  by 
its  nature,  one  appertaining  exclusively  to  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  local  authorities  of  the  Terri 
tory.  Whatever  irregularities  may  have  oc 
curred  in  the  elections,  it  seems  too  late  now  to 
raise  that  question  as  to  which,  neither  now  nor 
at  any  previous  time,  has  the  least  possible  legal 
authority  been  possessed  by  the  President  of  the 
United  States.  For  all  present  purposes  the  le 
gislative  body,  thus  constituted  and  elected,  was 
the  legitimate  assembly  of  the  Territory. 

Accordingly,  the  Governor,  by  proclamation, 
convened  the  Assembly  thus  elected  to  meet  at 
a  place  called  Pawnee  City.  The  two  Houses 
met,  and  were  duly  organized  in  the  ordinary 
parliamentary  form  ;  each  sent  to  and  received 
from  the  Governor  the  official  communications 
usual  on  such  occasions  ;  an  elaborate  Message 
opening  the  session  was  communicated  by  the 
Governor,  and  the  general  business  of  legislation 
was  entered  upon  by  the  Legislative  Assembly. 

But,  after  a  few  days,  the  Assembly  resolved  to 
adjourn  to  another  place  in  the  Territory.  A  law 
was  accordingly  passed,  against  the  consent  of 
the  Governor,  but  in  due  form  otherwise,  to  re 
move  the  seat  of  government  temporarily  to  the 
"ShaAvnee  Manual-labor  School"  (or  mission), 
and  thither  the  Assembly  proceeded.  After  this, 
receiving  a  bill  for  the  establishment  of  a  ferry  at 
the  town  of  Kickapoo,  the  Governor  refused  to 
sign  it,  and,  by  special  message,  assigned  for 
reason  of  refusal,  not  anything  objectionable  in 
the  bill  itself,  nor  any  pretense  of  the  illegality 
or  incompeteucy  of  the  Assembly  as  such,  but 
only  the  fact  that  the  Assembly  had,  by  its  act, 
transferred  the  seat  of  government  temporarily 
from  Pawnee  City  to  Shawnee  Mission.  For  the 
game  reason  he  continued  to  refuse  to  sign  other 
bills,  until,  in  the  course  of  a  few  days,  he,  by 
official  Message,  communicated  to  the  Assembly 
the  fact  that  he  had  received  notification  of  the 
termination  of  his  functions  as  Governor,  and 


that  the  duties  of  the  office  were  legally  devolved 
on  the  Secretary  of  the  Territory  ;  thus  to  the  last 
recognizing  the  body  as  a  duly-elected  and  con 
stituted  Legislative  Assembly. 

It  will  be  perceived  that  if  any  constitutional 
defect  attached  to  the  legislative  acts  of  the 
Assembly,  it  is  not  pretended  to  consist  in  irregu 
larity  of  election  or  want  of  qualification  of  the 
members,  but  only  in  the  change  of  its  place  of 
session.  However  trivial  the  objection  may 
seem  to  be,  it  requires  to  be  considered,  because 
upon  it  is  founded  all  that  superstructure  of  acts, 
plainly  against  law,  which  now  threatens  the 
peace  not  only  of  the  Territory  of  Kansas  but  of 
the  Union. 

Such  an  objection  to  the  proceedings  of  the 
Legislative  Assembly  was  of  exceptionable  ori 
gin,  for  the  reason  that,  by  the  express  terms  of 
the  organic  law,  the  seat  of  government  of  the 
Territory  was  "  located  temporarily  at  Fort  Lea- 
venworth  ;"  and  yet  the  Governor  himself  re 
mained  there  less  than  two  mouths,  and  of  his 
own  discretion  transferred  the  seat  of  Govern 
ment  to  the  Shawnee  Mission,  where  it  in  fact 
was  at  the  time  the  Assembly  were  called  to 
meet  at  Pawnee  City.  If  the  Governor  had  any 
such  right  to  change  temporarily  the  seat  of  Gov 
ernment,  still  more  had  the  Legislative  Assembly. 
The  objection  is  of  exceptional  origin  for  the  fur 
ther  reason  that  the  place  indicated  by  the  Gov 
ernor,  without  having  an  exclusive  claim  of  pre 
ference  in  itself,  was  a  proposed  town-site  only, 
which  he  and  others  were  attempting  to  locate 
unlawfully  upon  land  within  a  military  reserva 
tion,  and  for  participation  in  which  illegal  act  the 
commandant  of  a  post,  a  superior  officer  of  the 
Army,  has  been  dismissed  by  sentence  of  court- 
martial. 

Nor  is  it  easy  to  see  why  the  Legislative  Assem 
bly  might  not  with  propriety  pass  the  Territorial 
act  transferring  its  sittings  to  the  Shawuee  Mis 
sion.  If  it  could  not,  that  must  be  on  account 
of  some  prohibitory  or  incompatible  provision  of 
act  of  Congress.  But  no  such  provision  exists. 
The  organic  act,  as  already  quoted,  says  "  the 
seat  of  Government  is  hereby  located  tempo 
rarily  at  Fort  Leavenworth ;"  and  it  then  pro 
vides  that  certain  of  the  public  buildings  there 
"  may  be  occupied  and  used  under  the  direction 
of  the  Governor  and  Legislative  Assembly." 
These  expressions  might  possibly  be  construed 
to  imply  that  when,  in  a  previous  section  of  the 
act,  it  was  enacted  that  "  the  first  Legislative 
Assembly  shall  meet  at  such  place  and  on  such 
day  as  the  Governor  shall  appoint,"  the  word 
"  place''  means  place  at  Fort  Leavenworth,  not 
place  anywhere  in  the  Territory.  If  so,  the  Gov 
ernor  would  have  been  the  first  to  err  in  this  mat 
ter,  not  only  in  himseff  having  removed  the  seat 
of  Government  to  the  Shawnee  Mission,  but  in 
again  removing  it  to  Pawnee  City.  If  there  was 
any  departure  from  the  letter  of  tho  law,  there 
fore,  it  was  his  in  both  instances. 

But,  however  this  may  be,  it  is  most  unreason 
able  to  suppose  that  by  the  terms  of  the  organio 
act,  Congress  intended  to  do  impliedly  what  it 
has  not  done  expressly — that  is,  to.  forbid  to  the 
Legislative  Assembly  the  power  to  choose  any 
place  it  might  see  fit  as  the  temporary  seat  of  its 
deliberations.  That  is  proved  by  the  significant 
language  of  one  of  the  subsequent  acts  of  Con 
gress  on  the  subject,  that  of  March  3, 1855,  which, 
in  making  appropriation  for  public  buildings 
of  the  Territory,  enacts  that  the  same  shall  not 
be  expended  "  until  the  Legislature  of  said  Ter 
ritory  shall  have  fixed  by  law  the  permanent  seat 
of  government."  Congress,  in  these  expressions, 
does  not  profess  to  be  granting  tho  power  to  fix 
the  permanent  seat  of  government,  but  recoguiaea 
the  power  as  one  already  granted.  But  how '{ 
Undoubtedly  by  the  comprehensive  provision  of 


92 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  SLAVERY   RESTRICTION. 


the  organic  act  itself,  which  declares  that  "  the 
legislative  power  of  the  Territory  shall  extend 
to  all  rightful  subjects  of  legislation  consistent 
with  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  and  the 
provisions  of  this  act,"  If,  in  view  of  this  act, 
the  Legislative  Assembly  had  the  large  power  to 
fix  the  permanent  seat  of  government  at  any  place 
in  its  discretion,  of  course  by  the  same  enact 
ment  it  had  the  less  and  the  included  power  to  fix 
it  temporarily. 

Nevertheless,  the  allegation  that  the  acts  of  the 
Legislative  Assembly  were  illegal  by  reason  of 
this  removal  of  its  place  of  session,  was  brought 
forward  to  justify  the  first  great  movement  in 
disregard  of  law  within  the  Territory.  One  of 
the  acts  of  the  Legislative  Assembly  provided 
for  the  election  of  a  Delegate  to  the  present  Con 
gress,  and  a  Delegate  was  elected  under  that 
law.  But,  subsequently  to  this,  a  portion  of  the 
people  of  the  Territory  proceeded,  without  au 
thority  of  law,  to  elect  another  Delegate. 

Following  upon  this  movement  was  another 
and  more  important  one  of  the  same  general 
character.  Persons  confessedly  not  constituting 
the  body  politic,  or  all  the  inhabitants,  but  merely 
a  party  of  the  inhabitants,  and  without  law,  have 
undertaken  to  summon  a  convention  for  the  pur 
pose  of  transforming  the  Territory  into  a  State, 
and  have  framed  a  constitution,  adopted  it,  and 
under  it  elected  a  Governor  and  other  officers, 
and  a  representative  to  Congress. 

In  extenuation  of  these  illegal  acts,  it  is  alleged 
that  the  State  of  California,  Michigan,  and  others, 
were  self-organized,  and  as  such  were  admitted 
into  the  Union,  without  a  previous  enabling  act 
of  Congress.  It  is  true  that,  while  in  a  majority 
of  cases  a  previous  act  of  Congress  has  been  pass 
ed  to  authorize  the  Territory  to  present  itself  as  a 
State,  and  that  this  is  deemed  the  most  regular 
course,  yet  such  an  act  has  not  been  held  to  be 
indispensable,  and  in  some  cases  the  Territory  has 
proceeded  without  it,  and  has  nevertheless  been 
admitted  into  the  Union  as  a  State.  It  lies  with 
Congress  to  authorize  beforehand,  or  to  confirm 
afterward,  in  its  discretion ;  but  in  no  instance 
has  a  State  been  admitted  upon  the  application 
of  persons  acting  against  authorities  duly  consti 
tuted  by  act  of  Congress.  In  every  case  it  is  the 
people  of  the  Territory,  not  a  party  among  them, 
who  have  the  power  to  form  a  constitution  and 
ask  for  admission  as  a  State.  No  principle  of 
public  law,  no  practice  or  precedent  under  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States,  no  rule  of  rea 
son,  right,  or  common  sense,  confers  any  such 
power  as  that  now  claimed  by  a  mere  party  in 
the  Territory.  In  fact,  what  has  been  done  is  of 
revolutionary  character.  It  is  avowedly  so  in  mo 
tive  and  in  aim  as  respects  the  local  law  of  the  Ter 
ritory.  It  will  become  treasonable  insurrection 
if  it  reach  the  length  of  organized  resistance  by 
force  to  the  fundamental  or  any  other  federal  law, 
and  to  the  authority  of  the  General  Government. 

In  such  an  event,  the  path  of  duty  for  the  Exe 
cutive  is  plain.  The  Constitution  requiring  him 
to  take  care  that  the  laws  of  the  United  States  be 
faithfully  executed,  if  they  bo  opposed  in  the 
Territory  of  Kansas,  he  may  and  should  place  at 
the  disposal  of  the  marshal  any  public  force  of 
the  United  States  which  happens  to  be  within 
the  jurisdiction,  to  be  used  as  a  portion  of  the 
posse  comitatus ;  and,  if  that  do  not  suffice  to 
maintain  order,  then  he  may  call  forth  the  militia 
of  one  or  more  States  for  that  object,  or  employ 
for  the  same  object  any  part  of  the  land  or  naval 
force  of  the  United  States.  So  also  if  the  ob 
struction  be  to  the  laws  of  the  Territory,  and  it 
be  duly  presented  to  him  as  a  case  of  insurrec 
tion,  he  may  employ  for  its  suppression  the  mili 
tia  of  any  State,  or  the  land  or  naval  force  of  the 
United  States.  And  if  the  Territory  be  invaded 
by  the  citizens  of  other  States,  whether  for  the 


purpose  of  deciding  elections  or  for  any  other, 
and  the  local  authorities  find  themselves  unable 
to  repel  or  withstand  it,  they  will  be  entitled  to, 
and  upon  the  fact  being  fully  ascertained,  they 
shall  most  certainly  receive,  the  aid  of  the  Gener 
al  Government. 

But  it  is  not  the  duty  of  the  President  of  the 
United  States  to  volunteer  interposition  by  force 
to  preserve  the  purity  of  elections  cither  in  a  State 
or  Territory.  To  do  so  would  be  subversive  of 
public  freedom.  And  whether  a  law  be  wise  or 
unwise,  just  or  unjust,  is  not  a  question  for  him 
to  judge.  If  it  be  constitutional — that  is,  if  it 
be  the  law  of  the  land — it  is  his  duty  to  cause  it 
to  be  executed,  or  to  sustain  the  authorities  of 
any  State  or  Territory  in  executing  it  in  opposi 
tion  to  all  insurrectionary  movements. 

Our  system  affords  no  justification  of  revolu 
tionary  acts  ;  for  the  constitutional  means  of  re 
lieving  the  people  of  unjust  administration  and 
laws,  by  a  change  of  public  agents  and  byre- 
peal,  are  ample,  and  more  prompt  and  effective 
than  illegal  violence.  These  constitutional  means 
must  be  scrupulously  guarded — this  great  pre 
rogative  of  popular  sovereignty  sacredly  respect 
ed. 

It  is  the  undoubted  right  of  the  peaceable  and 
orderly  people  of  the  Territory  of  Kansas  to  elect 
their  own  legislative  body,  make  their  own  laws, 
and  regulate  their  own  social  institutions,  without 
foreign  or  domestic  molestation.  Interference,  on 
the  one  hand,  to  procure  the  abolition  or  prohi 
bition  of  slave-labor  in  the  Territory,  has  pro 
duced  mischievous  interference  on  the  other  for 
its  maintenance  or  introduction.  One  wrong  be 
gets  another.  Statements  entirely  unfounded  or 
grossly  exaggerated,  concerning  events  within 
the  Territory,  are  sedulously  diffused  through  re 
mote  States  to  feed  the  flame  of  sectional  ani 
mosity  there ;  and  the  agitators  there  exert  them 
selves  indefatigably  in  return  to  encourage  and 
stimulate  strife  within  the  Territory. 

The  inflammatory  agitation,  of  which  the  pres 
ent  is  but  apart,  has  for  twenty  years  produced  no 
thing  save  unmitigated  evil,  North  and  South. 
But  for  it  the  character  of  the  domestic  institu 
tions  of  the  future  new  State  would  have  been  a 
matter  of  too  little  interest  to  the  inhabitants  of 
the  contiguous  States,  personal  or  collectively,  to 
produce  among  them  any  political  emotion. 
Climate,  soil,  production,  hopes  of  rapid  ad 
vancement,  and  the  pursuit  of  hap.piness  on  the 
part  of  settlers  themselves,  with  good  wishes  but 
with  no  interference  from  without,  would  have 
quietly  determined  the  question  which  is  at  this 
time  of  such  disturbing  character. 

But  we  are  constrained  to  turn  our-attention  to 
the  circumstances  of  embarrassment  as  they  now 
exist.  It  is  the  duty  of  the  people  of  Kansas  to 
discountenance  every  act  or  purpose  of  resist 
ance  to  its  laws.  Above  all.  the  emergency  ap 
peals  to  the  citizens  of  the  States  and  especially 
of  those  contiguous  to  the  Territory,  neither  by 
intervention  of  non-reside-nts  in  elections,  nor  by 
unauthorized  military  force,  to  attempt  to  en 
croach  upon  or  usurp  the  authority  of  the  in 
habitants  of  the  Territory. 

No  citizen  of  our  country  should  permit  himself 
to  forget  that  he  is  a  part  of  its  government,  and 
entitled  to  be  heard  in  the  determination  of  its 
policy  and  its  measures  ;  and  that,  therefore,  the 
highest  considerations  of  personal  honor  and 
patriotism  require  him  to  maintain,  by  whatever 
of  power  or  influence  he  may  possess,  the  integ 
rity  of  the  laws  of  the  Republic. 

Entertaining  these  views,  it  will  be  my  impera 
tive  duty  to  exert  the  whole  power  of  the  Federal 
Executive  to  support  public  order  in  the  Territo 
ry  ;  to  vindicate  its  laws,  whether  Federal  or 
local,  against  all  attempts  of  organized  resistance  ; 
and  so  to  protect  its  people  in  the  establishment 


THE  KANSAS-NEBRASKA   STRUGGLE. 


of  their  own  institutions,  undisturbed  by  encroach 
ment  from  without,  and  in  the  full  enjoyment  of 
the  rights  of  self-government  assured  to  them  by 
the  Constitution  and  the  organic  act  of  Congress. 

Although  serious  and  threatening  disturbances 
in  the  Territory  of  Kansas,  announced  to  me  by 
the  Governor,  in  December  last,  were  speedily 
quieted  without  the  effusion  of  blood,  and  in  a 
satisfactory  manner,  there  is,  I  regret  to  say,  rea 
son  to  apprehend  that  disorders  will  continue  to 
occur  there,  with  increasing  tendency  to  violence, 
until  some  decisive  measures  be  taken  to  dispose 
of  the  question  itself  which  constitutes  the  in 
ducement  or  occasion  of  internal  agitation  and 
of  external  interference. 

This,  it  seems  to  me,  can  best  be  accomplished 
by  providing  that,  when  the  inhabitants  of  Kan 
sas  may  desire  it,  and  shall  be  of  sufficient  num 
bers  to  constitute  a  State,  a  convention  of  dele 
gates,  duly  elected  by  the  qualified  voters,  shall 
assemble  to  frame  a  Constitution,  and  thus  to 
prepare,  through  regular  and  lawful  means,  for 
its  admission  into  the  Union  as  a  State.  I  re 
spectfully  recommend  the  enactment  of  a  law  to 
that  effect, 

I  recommend,  also,  that  a  special  appropriation 
be  made  to  defray  any  expense  which  may  be 
come  requisite  in  the  execution  of  the  laws  or  the 
maintenance  of  public  order  in  the  Territory  of 
Kansas.  FRANKLIN  PIERCE. 

March  llth.— In  Senate,  Mr.  Douglas  of 
Illinois,  from  the  Committee  on  Territories, 
made  the  following 

REPORT : 

The  Committee  on  Territories,  to  whom  was  re 
ferred  so  much  of  the  annual  message  of  the 
President  of  the  United  States  as  relates  to  ter 
ritorial  affairs,  together  with  his  special  message 
of  the  24th  day  of  January,  1856,  in  regard  to 
Kansas  Territory,  and  his  message  of  the  18th 
of  February,  in  compliance  with  the  resolution 
of  the  Senate  of  the  4th  of  February,  1856,  re 
questing  transcripts  of  certain  papers  relative 
to  the  affairs  of  the  Territory  of  Kansas,  having 
given  the  same  that  serious  and  mature  delibe 
ration  which  the  importance  of  the  subject  de 
mands,  beg  leave  to  submit  the  following  re 
port: 

Your  Committee  deem  this  an  appropriate  oc 
casion  to  state  briefly,  but  distinctly,  the  princi 
ples  upon  which  new  States  may  be  admitted  and 
Territories  organized  under  the  authority  of  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States. 

The  Constitution  (section  3,  article  4)  provides 
that  "  new  States  may  be  admitted  by  the  Con 
gress  into  this  Union." 

Section  8,  Article  1 :  "  Congress  shall  have 
power  to  make  all  laws  which  shall  be  necessary 
and  proper  for  carrying  into  execution  the  fore 
going  powers,  and  all  other  powers  vested  by  this 
constitution  in  the  government  of  the  United 
States,  or  in  any  department  or  office  thereof." 

10th  amendment :  "  The  powers  not  delegated 
to  the  United  States  by  the  Constitution,  nor  pro 
hibited  by  it  to  the  States,  are  reserved  to  the 
States  respectively,  or  to  the  people." 

A  State  of  the  Federal  Union  is  a  sovereign 
power,  limited  only  by  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States. 

The  limitations  which  that  instrument  has  im 
posed  are  few,  specific,  and  uniform — applicable 
alike  to  all  the  States,  old  and  new.  There  is  no 
authority  for  putting  a  restriction  upon  the  sove 


reignty  of  a  new  State,  which  the  Constitu 
tion  has  not  placed  on  the  original  States.  In 
deed,  if  such  a  restriction  could  be  imposed  on 
any  State,  it  would  instantly  cease  to  be  a  State 
within  the  meaning  of  the  Federal  Constitution, 
and,  in  consequence  of  the  inequality,  would  as 
similate  to  the  condition  of  a  province  or  depend 
ency.  Hence,  equality  among  all  the  States  of 
the  Union  is  a  fundamental  principle  in  our  fede 
rative  system — a  principle  embodied  in  the  Con 
stitution,  as  the  basis  upon  which  the  American 
Union  rests. 

African  Slavery  existed  in  all  the  colonies,  un 
der  the  sanction  of  the  British  government,  prior 
to  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  When  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States  was  adopted,  it 
beca'me  the  supreme  law  and  bond  of  union  be 
tween  twelve  slaveholding  States  and  one  non- 
slaveholdiug  State.  Each  State  reserved  the 
right  to  decide  the  question  of  Slavery  for  itself— 
to  continue  it  as  a  domestic  institution  so  long  as 
it  pleased,  and  to  abolish  it  when  it  chose. 

In  pursuance  of  this  reserved  right,  six  of  the 
original  slaveholding  States  have  since  abolish 
ed  and  prohibited  Slavery  within  their  limits  re 
spectively,  without  consulting  Congress  or  their 
sister  States ;  while  the  other  six  have  retained 
and  sustained  it  as  a  domestic  institution,  which, 
in  their  opinion,  had  become  so  firmly  engrafted 
on  their  social  systems,  that  the  relation  between 
the  master  and  slave  could  not  be  dissolved 
with  safety  to  either.  In  the  mean  time,  eighteen 
new  States  have  been  admitted  into  the  Union, 
in  obedience  to  the  Federal  Constitution,  on  an 
equal  footing  with  the  original  States,  including, 
of  course,  the  right  of  each  to  decide  the  question 
of  Slavery  for  itself.  In  deciding  this  question, 
it  has  so  happened  that  nine  of  these  new  States 
have  abolished  and  prohibited  Slavery,  while  the 
other  nine  have  retained  and  regulated  it.  That 
these  new  States  had  at  the  time  of  their  admis 
sion,  and  still  retain,  an  equal  right,  under  the 
Federal  Constitution,  with  the  original  States,  to 
decide  all  questions  of  domestic  policy  for  them 
selves,  including  that  of  African  Slavery,  ought 
not  to  be  seriously  questioned,  and  certainly  can 
not  be  successfully  controverted. 

They  are  all  subject  to  the  same  supreme 
law,  which,  by  the  consent  of  each,  constitutes 
the  only  limitation  upon  their  sovereign  author 
ity- 

Since  we  find  the  right  to  admit  new  States 
enumerated  among  the  powers  expressly  dele 
gated  in  the  Constitution,  the  question  arises, 
Whence  does  Congress  derive  authority  to 
organize  temporary  governments  for  the  Terri 
tories  preparatory  to  their  admission  into  the 
Union  on  an  equal  footing  with  the  original 
States  ?  Your  Committee  are  not  prepared  to 
adopt  the  reasoning  which  deduces  the  power 
from  that  other  clause  of  the  Constitution,  which 
says  : 

"  Congress  shall  have  power  to  dispose  of  and 
make  all  needful  rules  and  regulation  respecting 
the  territory  or  other  property  belonging  to  the 
United  States." 

The  language  of  this  clause  is  much  more  ap 
propriate  when  applied  to  property  than  to  per 
sons.  It  would  seem  to  have  been  employed  for 
the  purpose  of  conferring  upon  Congress  the  pow 
er  of  disposing  of  the  public  lands  ^  and  other 
property  belonging  to  Ike  United  States,  and 
to  make  all  needful  rules  and  regulations  for  that 
purpose,  rather  than  to  govern  the  people  who 
might  purchase  those  lands  from  the  United 
States  and  become  residents  thereon.  The  word 
"territory"  was  an  appropriate  expression  to 
designate  that  large  area  of  public  lands  of  which 
the  United  States  had  become  the  owner  by  vir 
tue  of  the  revolution  and  the  cession  by  the 
several  States.  The  additional  words,  "  or  other 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  SLAVERY  RESTRICTION. 


property  belonging  to  the  United  States,"  clear 
ly  show  that  the  term  "  territory"  was  used  in 
its  ordinary  geographical  sense  to  designate  the 
public  domain,  and  not  as  descriptive  of  the 
whole  body  of  the  people,  constituting  a  distinct 
political  community,  wno  have  no  representation 
in  Congress,  and  consequently  no  voice  in  mak 
ing  the  laws  upon  which  all  their  rights  and  liber 
ties  would  depend,  if  it  were  conceded  that  Con 
gress  had  the  general  and  unlimited  power  to 
make  all  "needful  rules  and  regulations  con 
cerning"  their  internal  affairs  and  domestic  con 
cerns.  It  is  under  this  clause  of  the  constitu 
tion,  and  from  this  alone,  that  Congress  derives 
authority  to  provide  for  the  surveys  of  the  pub 
lic  lands,  for  securing  pre-emption  rights  to  actual 
settlers,  for  the  establishment  of  land  offices  in 
the  several  States  and  Territories,  for  exposing 
the  lands  to  private  and  public  sale,  for  issuing 
patents  and  confirming  titles,  and,  in  short,  for 
making  all  needful  rules  and  regulations  for  pro 
tecting  and  disposing  of  the  public  domain  and 
other  property  belonging  to  the  United  States. 

These  needful  rules  and  regulations  may  be 
embraced,  and  usually  are  found,  in  general  laws 
applicable  alike  to  States  and  Territories,  wher 
ever  the  United  States  may  be  the  owner  of  the 
lands  or  other  property  to  be  regulated  or  dis 
posed  of.  It  can  make  no  difference,  under  this 
clause  of  the  Constitution,  whether  the  "  territory, 
or  other  property,  belonging  to  the  United 
States,"  shall  be  situated  in  Ohio  or  Kansas,  in 
Alabama  or  Minnesota,  in  California  or  Oregon. 
The  power  of  Congress  to  make  needful  rules 
and  regulations  is  the  same  in  the  States  and 
Territories,  to  the  extent  that  the  title  is  vested 
in  the  United  States.  Inasmuch  as  the  right  of 
legislation  in  such  cases  rests  exclusively  upon 
the  fact  of  ownership,  it  is  obvious  it  can  extend 
only  to  the  tracts  of  land  to  which  the  United 
States  possess  the  title,  and  must  cease  in  respect 
to  each  tract  the  instant  it  becomes  private  prop 
erty  by  purchase  from  the  United  States.  It  will 
scarcely  be  contended  that  Congress  possesses 
the  power  to  legislate  for  the  people  of  those 
States  in  which  public  lands  may  be  located,  in 
respect  to  their  internal  affairs  and  domestic  con 
cerns,  merely  because  the  United  States  may  be 
so  fortunate  as  to  own  a  portion  of  the  territory 
and  other  property  within  the  limits  of  those 
States.  Yet  it  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  this 
clause  of  the  Constitution  confers  upon  Congress 
the  same  power  to  make  needful  rules  and  regu 
lations  in  the  States  as  it  does  in  the  Territories, 
concerning  the  territory  or  other  property  belong 
ing  to  the  United  States. 

In  view  of  these  considerations,  your  Commit 
tee  are  not  prepared  to  affirm  that  Congress  de 
rives  authority  to  institute  governments  for  the 
people  of  the  Territories,  from  that  clause  of  the 
Constitution  which  confers  the  right  to  make 
needful  rules  and  regulations  concerning  the  ter 
ritory  or  other  property  belonging  to  the  United 
States  ;  much  less  can  we  deduce  the  power  from 
any  supposed  necessity,  arising  outside  of  the 
Constitution  and  not  provided  for  in  that  instru 
ment.  The  federal  government  is  ono  of  dele 
gated  and  limited  powers,  clothed  with  no  right 
ful  authority  which  does  not  result  directly  and 
necessarily  from  the  Constitution.  Necessity, 
when  experience  shall  have  clearly  demonstrated 
its  existence,  may  furnish  satisfactory  reasons 
for  enlarging  the  authority  of  the  federal  govern 
ment,  by  amendments  to  the  Constitution,  in  the 
mode  prescribed  in  the  instrument ;  but  cannot 
afford  the  slightest  excuse  for  the  assumption  of 
powers  not  delegated,  and  which,  by  the  tenth 
amendment,  are  expressly  "  reserved  to  the 
States  respectively,  or  to  the  people."  Hence, 
before  the  power  can  be  safely  exercised,  the 
right  of  Congress  to  organize  Territories,  by  in 


stituting  temporary  governments,  must  be  traced 
directly  to  some  provision  of  the  Constitution 
conferring  the  authority  in  express  terms,  or  as  a 
means  necessary  and  proper  to  carry  into  effect 
some  one  or  more  of  the  powers  which  are  speci 
fically  delegated.  Is  not  the  organization  of  a 
Territory  eminently  necessary  and  proper  as  a 
means  of  enabling  the  people  thereof  to  form  and 
mould  their  local  and  domestic  institutions,  and 
establish  a  Stafe  government  under  the  authority 
of  the  Constitution,  preparatory  to  its  admission 
into  the  Union  ?  If  so,  the  right  of  Congress  to 
pass  the  organic  act  for  the  temporary  govern 
ment  is  clearly  included  in  the  provision  which 
authorizes  the  admission  of  new  States.  This 
power,  however,  being  an  incident  to  an  express 
grant,  and  resulting  from  it  by  necessary  impli 
cation,  as  an  appropriate  means  for  carrying  it 
into  effect,  must  be  exercised  in  harmony  with 
the  nature  and  objects  of  the  grant  from  which  it 
is  deduced.  The  organic  act  of  the  Territory, 
deriving  its  validity  from  the  power  of  Congress 
to  admit  new  States,  must  contain  no  provision 
or  restriction  which  would  destroy  or  impair  the 
equality  of  the  proposed  State  with  the  original 
States,  or  impose  any  limitation  upon  its  sove 
reignty  which  the  Constitution  has  not  placed 
on  all  the  States.  So  far  as  the  organization  of  a 
Territory  may  be  necessary  and  proper  as  a 
means  of  carrying  into  effect  the  provision  of  the 
Constitution  for  the  admission  of  new  States,  and 
when  exercised  with  reference  only  to  that  end, 
the  power  of  Congress  is  clear  and  explicit ;  but 
beyond  that  point  the  authority  cannot  extend, 
for  the  reason  that  all  "  powers  not  delegated  to 
the  United  States  by  the  Constitution,  nor  pro 
hibited  by  it  to  the  States,  are  reserved  to  the 
States  respectively,  or  to  the  people/'  In  other 
words,  the  organic  act  of  the  Territory,  conform 
ing  to  the  spirit  of  the  grant  from  which  it  re 
ceives  its  validity,  must  leave  the  people  entirely 
free  to  form  and  regulate  their  domestic  institu 
tions  and  internal  concerns  in  their  own  way, 
subject  only  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States,  to  the  end  that  when  they  attain  the 
requisite  population,  and  establish  a  State  gov 
ernment  in  conformity  to  the  Federal  Constitu 
tion,  they  may  be  admitted  into  the  Union  on  an 
equal  footing  with  the  original  States  in  all  re 
spects  whatsoever. 

The  act  of  Congress  for  the  organization  of  the 
Territories  of  Kansas  and  Nebraska,  was  design 
ed  to  conform  to  the  spirit  and  letter  of  the  Fede 
ral  Constitution,  by  preserving  and  maintaining 
the  fundamental  principle  of  equality  among  aU 
the  States  of  the  Union,  notwithstanding  the  re 
striction  contained  in  the  8th  section  of  the  act  of 
March  6,  1820,  (preparatory  to  the  admission  of 
Missouri  into  the  Union,)  which  assumed  to  deny 
to  the  people  forever  the  right  to  settle  the  ques 
tion  of  Slavery  for  themselves,  provided  they 
should  make  their  homes  and  organize  States 
north  of  thirty-six  degrees  and  thirty  minutes 
north  latitude.  Conforming  to  the  cardinal  prin 
ciples  of  State  equality  and  self-government,  in 
obedience  to  the  Constitution,  the  Kansas-Ne 
braska  act  declared,  in  the  precise  language  of 
the  Compromise  Measures  of  1850,  that,  "  when 
admitted  as  a  State,  the  said  Territory,  or  any 
portion  of  the  same,  shall  be  received  into  the 
Union,  with  or  without  Slavery,  as  their  consti 
tutions  may  prescribe  at  the  time  of  their  admis 
sion."  Again,  after  declaring  the  said  8th  section 
of  the  Missouri  act  (sometimes  called  the  Mis 
souri  Compromise,  or  Missouri  Restriction)  inop 
erative  and  void  as  being  repugnant  to  these 
principles,  the  purpose  of  Congress,  in  passing 
the  act,  is  declared  in  these  words :  "  It  being 
the  true  intent  and  meaning  of  this  act  not  to 
legislate  Slavery  into  any  State  or  Territory,  nor 
to  exclude  it  therefrom,  but  to  leave  the  people 


THE  KANSAS-NEBRASKA  STRUGGLE. 


thereof  perfectly  free  to  form  and  regulate  their 
domestic  institutions  in  their  own  way,  subject 
only  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States." 

The  passage  of  the  Kansas-Nebraska  act  was 
strenuously  resisted  by  all  persons  who  thought 
it  a  less  evil  to  deprive  the  people  of  new  States 
and  Territories  of  the  right  of  State  equality  and 
self-government  under  the  Constitution,  than  to 
allow  them  to  decide  the  Slavery  question  for 
themselves,  as  every  State  of  the  Union  had 
done,  and  must  retain  the  undeniable  right  to 
do,  so  long  as  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  shall  be  maintained  as  the  supreme  law 
of  the  land.  Finding  opposition  to  the  principles 
of  the  act  unavailing  in  the  halls  of  Congress 
and  under  the  forms  of  the  Constitution,  com 
binations  were  immediately  entered  into  in  some 
portions  of  the  Union  to  control  the  political 
destinies,  and  form  and  regulate  the  domestic 
institutions,  of  those  Territories  and  future 
States,  through  the  machinery  of  emigrant  aid 
societies.  In  order  to  give  consistency  and  effi 
ciency  to  the  movement,  and  surround  it  with 
the  color  of  legal  authority,  an  act  of  incorpora 
tion  was  procured  from  the  legislature  ot  the 
State  of  Massachusetts,  in  which  it  was  provid 
ed,  in  the  first  section,  that  twenty  persons  there 
in  named,  and  their  "  associates,  successors,  and 
assigns,  are  hereby  made  a  corporation,  by  the 
name  of  the  Massachusetts  Emigrant  Aid  Com 
pany,  for  the  purpose  of  assisting  emigrants  to 
settle  in  the  West;  and  for  this  purpose  they 
shall  have  all  the  powers  and  privileges,  and  be 
subject  to  all  the  duties,  restrictions,  and  liabili 
ties  set  forth  in  the  38th  and  44th  chapters  of  the 
revised  statutes"  of  Massachusetts. 

The  second  section  limited  the  capital  stock  of 
the  company  to  five  millions  of  dollars,  and  au 
thorized  the  whole  to  be  invested  in  real  and  per 
sonal  estate,  with  the  proviso  that  "  the  said  cor 
poration  shall  not  hold  real  estate  in  this  com 
monwealth  (Massachusetts)  to  an  amount  ex 
ceeding  twenty  thousand  dollars." 

The  third  section  provided  for  dividing  the 
capital  stock  of  the  corporation  into  shares  of 
one  hundred  dollars  each,  and  prescribed  the 
mode,  time,  and  amounts  in  which  assessments 
might  be  made  on  each  share. 

The  fourth  and  last  section  was  in  these 
words : 

"At  all  meetings  of  the  stockholders,  each 
stockholder  shall  be  entitled  to  cast  one  vote  for 
each  share  held  by  him ;  provided,  that  no  stock 
holder  shall  be  entitled  to  cast  more  than  fifty 
votes  on  shares  held  by  himself,  nor  more  than 
fifty  votes  by  proxy." 

Although  the  act  of  incorporation  does  not  dis 
tinctly  declare  that  the  company  was  formed  for 
the  purpose  of  controlling  the  domestic  institu 
tions  of  the  Territory  of  Kansas,  and  forcing  it 
into  the  Union  with  a  prohibition  of  Slavery  in 
her  constitution,  regardless  of  the  rights  and 
wishes  of  the  people  as  guarantied  by  the  Consti 
tution  of  the  United  States,  and  secured  by  their 
organic  law,  yet  the  whole  history  of  the  move 
ment,  the  circumstances  in  which  it  had  its  origin, 
and  the  professions  and  avowals  of  all  engaged 
in  it,  render  it  certain  and  undeniable  that  such 
was  its  object. 

To  remove  all  doubt  upon  this  point,  your 
committee  will  here  present  a  few  extracts  trom 
a  pamphlet  published  by  the  company  soon 
after  its  organization,  under  the  following  cap 
tion: 

"  Organization,  objects,  and  plan  of  operations  of 
the  Emigrant  Aid  Company;  also,  a  description  oi 
Kansas,  tor  the  information  of  emigrants. 

"  Trustees— Amos  A.  Lawrence,  Boston  ;  J.  M.  8. 
Williams,  Cambridge;  Ely  Thayer,  Worcester. 

"  Treasurer,  Amos  A.  Lawrence. 

"  Secretary,  Thomas  H.  Webb,  Boston. 


For  the  purpose  of  answering  numerous  communi 
cations  concerning  the  plan  of  operations  of  the  Emi 
grant  Aid  Company,  and  the  resources  of  Kansas  Ter 
ritory,  which  it  is  proposed  now  to  settle,  the  secre 
tary  of  the  company  haa  deemed  it  expedient  to 
publish  the  following  definite  information  in  regard 
to  this  particular:  * 

"For  these  purposes  it  is  recommended.  1st.  That 
the  trustees  contract  immediately  with  some  one  of 
the  competing  lines  of  travel  for  the  conveyance  of 
20,000  persons  from  Massachusetts  to  that  place  in 
tho  West  which  the  trustees  shall  select  for  their  first 
settlement."  *  * 

"It  is  recommended  that  the  company's  agents 
locate  and  take  up  for  the  company's  benefit,  the  sec 
tions  of  land  in  which  the  boarding-houses  and  mills 
are  located,  and  no  others.  And  farther,  whenever 
the  Territory  shall  be  organized  as  a  free  State,  the 
trustees  shall  dispose  of  all  its  interests  there,  replace 
by  the  sales  the  money  laid  out,  declare  a  dividend  to 
the  stockholders,  and  that  they  then  select  a  new 
field,  and  make  similar  arrangements  fur  the  settle 
ment  and  organization  of  another  free  State  of  this 
Union."  *  *  *  * 

"  With  the  advantages  attained  by  such  a  system  of 
effort,  the  territory  selected  as  the  scene  of  operations 
would,  it  is  believed,  be  filled  up  with  free  inhabit 
ants.  ***** 

''  There  is  reason  to  suppose  several  thousand  men 
of  New-England  origin  propose  to  emigrate  uuder  the 
auspices  of  some  such  arrangement,  this  very  sum 
mer.  Of  the  whole  emigration  from  Europe,  amount 
ing  to  some  400,000  persons,  there  can  be  no  difficulty 
in  inducing  some  thirty  or  forty  thousand  to  take  the 
same  direction." 

"Especially  will  it  prove  an  advantage  to  Massa 
chusetts,  if  she  create  the  new  State  by  her  foresight, 
supply  the  necessities  of  its  inhabitants,  and  open  in 
the  outset  communications  between  their  homes  and 
her  ports  and  factories." 

"  It  determines  in  the  right  way  the  institutions  of 
the  unsettled  Territories,  in  less  time  than  the  dis 
cussion  of  them  has  required  in  Congress." 

Having  thus  secured  from  the  State  of  Massa 
chusetts  the  color  of  legal  authority  to  sanction 
their  proceedings,  in  perversion  of  the  plain  pro 
visions  of  an  act  of  Congress  passed  in  pursuance 
of  the  Constitution,  the  company  commenced  its 
operations  by  receiving  subscriptions  to  its  capi 
tal  stock,  and  exerting  its  whole  power  to  har 
monize,  combine,  and  direct,  in  the  channel  it 
should  mark  out,  all  the  elements  of  opposition 
to  the  principles  of  the  Kansas  and  Nebraska  act. 
The  plan  adopted  was  to  make  it  the  interest  of 
a  large  body  of  men,  who  sympathized  with  them 
in  the  objects  of  the  corporation,  to  receive  their 
aid  and  protection,  and,  under  the  auspices  of  the 
company,  to  proceed  to  Kansas,  and  acquire 
whatever  residence,  and  do  whatever  acts,  might 
be  found  necessary  to  enable  them  to  vote  at  tho 
elections,  and  through  the  ballot-box,  if  possible, 
to  gain  control  over  the  legislation  of  the  Terri 
tory.  This  movement  is  justified  by  those  who 
originated  and  control  the  plan,  upon  the  ground 
thai  the  persons  whom  they  sent  to  Kansas  were 
free  men,  who,  under  the  Constitution  and  law*, 
had  a  perfect  right  to  emigrate  to  Kansas  or  any 
other  Territory;  that  tho  act  of  emigration  was 
entirely  voluntary  on  their  part ;  and  when  they 
arrived  in  the  Territory  as  actual  settlers,  they 
had  as  good  a  right  as  any  other  citizens  to  vote 
at  the  elections,  and  participate  in  tho  control  of 
the  government  of  the  Territory,  llns  would 
undoubtedly  be  true  in  a  case  of  ordinary  emi 
gration,  such  as  has  filled  up  our  new  States  and 
Territories,  where  each  individual  has  g^ne,  on 
his  own  account,  to  improve  his  condition  and 
that  of  his  family.  But  it  is  a  very  different  thing 
where  a  State  creates  a  vast  moneyed  corporation 
for  the  purpose  of  controlling  the  domestic  insti 
tutions  of  a  distinct  political  community  fifteen 
hundred  miles  distant,  and  sends  out  the  emi 
0-rants  only  as  a  means  of  accomplishing  its 
i  paramount  political  objects.  When  a  powerful 
corporation,  with  a  capital  of  five  millions  of 
i  dollars  invested  in  houses  and  lands,  in  merchan- 


96 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  SLAVERY  RESTRICTION. 


disc  and  mills,  in  cannon  and  rifles,  in  powdei 
and  lead — in  all  the  implements  of  art,  agricul 
ture,  and  war,  and  employing  a  corresponding 
number  of  men,  all  under  the  management  anc 
control  of  non-resident  directors  and  stockholders 
who  are  authorized  by  their  charter  to  vote  by 
proxy  to  the  extent  of  fifty  votes  each,  enters  a 
distant  and  sparsely  settled  Territory  with  the 
fixed  purpose  of  wielding  all  its  power  to  control 
the  domestic  institutions  and  political  destinies 
of  the  Territory,  it  becomes  a  question  of  fearful 
import,  how  fur  the  operations  of  the  company 
are  compatible  with  the  rights  and  liberties  of  the 
people.  Whatever  may  be  the  extent  or  limit  of 
congressional  authority  over  the  Territories,  it  is 
clear  that  no  individual  State  has  the  rigjit  to 
pass  any  law  or  authorize  any  act  concerning  or 
affecting  the  Territories,  which  it  might  not  enact 
in  reference  to  any  other  State. 

If  the  people  of  any  State  should  become  so 
much  enamored  with  their  own  peculiar  institu 
tions  as  to  conceive  the  philanthropic  scheme  of 
forcing  so  great  a  blessing  on  their  unwilling 
neighbors,  and  with  that  view  should  create  a 
mammoth  moneyed  corporation,  for  the  avowed 
purpose  of  sending  a  sufficient  number  of  their 
young  men  into  the  neighboring  State,  to  remain 
long  enough  to  acquire  the  right  of  voting,  with 
the  fixed  and  paramount  object  of  reversing  the 
settled  policy  and  changing  the  domestic  institu 
tions  of  such  State,  would  it  not  be  deemed  an 
act  of  aggression,  as  offensive  and  flagrant  as  if 
attempted  by  direct  and  open  violence  ?  It  is  a 
well-settled  principle  of  constitutional  law,  in  this 
country,  that  while  all  the  State?  of  the  Union  are 
united  in  one,  for  certain  purposes,  yet  each  State, 
in  respect  to  everything  which  affects  its  domestic 
policy  and  internal  concerns,  stands  in  the  rela 
tion  of  a  foreign  power  to  every  other  State. 

Hence,  no  State  has  a  right  to  pass  any  law,  or 
do  or  authorize  any  act,  with  the  view  to  influ 
ence  or  change  the  domestic  policy  of  any  other 
State  or  Territory  of  the  Union,  more  than  it 
would  with  reference  to  France  or  England,  or 
any  other  foreign  State  with  which  we  are  at 
peace.  Indeed,  every  State  of  this  Union  is  under 
higher  obligations  to  observe  a  friendly  forbear 
ance  and  generous  comity  towards  each  other 
member  of  the  Confederacy,  than  the  laws  of 
nations  can  impose  on  foreign  States.  While 
foreign  States  are  restrained  from  all  acts  of  ag 
gression  and  unkindness  only  by  that  spirit  of 
comity  which  the  laws  of  nations  enjoin  upon  all 
friendly  powers,  we  have  assumed  the  additional 
obligation  to  obey  the  Constitution,  which  secures 
to  every  State  the  right  to  control  its  own  internal 
affairs.  If  repugnance  to  domestic  Slavery  can 
justify  Massachusetts  in  incorporating  a  mam 
moth  company  to  influence  and  control  that 
question  in  any  State  or  Territory  of  this  Union, 
the  same  principle  of  action  would  authorize 
France  or  England  to  use  the  same  means  to  ac 
complish  the  same  end  in  Brazil  or  Cuba,  or  in 
fifteen  States  of  this  Union  ;  while  it  would  license 
the  United  States  to  interfere  with  serfdom  in 
Russia,  or  polygamy  in  Turkey,  or  any  other  ob 
noxious  institution  in  any  part  of  the  world. 
The  same  principle  of  action,  when  sanctioned 
by  our  example,  would  authorize  all  the  king 
doms,  and  empires,  and  despotisms  in  the  world, 
to  engage  in  a  common  crusade  against  republic 
anism  in  America,  as  an  institution  quite  as  ob 
noxious  to  them  as  domestic  Slavery  is  to  any 
portion  of  the  people  of  the  United  States. 

If  our  obligations  arising  under  the  laws  of 
nations  are  so  imperative  as  to  make  it  our  duty 
to  enact  neutrality  laws,  and  to  exert  the  whole 
power  and  authority  of  the  executive  branch  of 
the  government,  including  the  army  and  navy, 
to  enforce  them,  in  restraining  our  citizens  from 
interfering  with  the  internal  concerns  of  foreign 


States,  can  the  obligations  of  each  State  and 
Territory  of  this  Union  be  less  imperative,  under 
the  Federal  Constitution,  to  observe  entire  neu 
trality  in  respect  to  the  domestic  institutions  of 
the  several  States  and  Territories  1  Non-interfer 
ence  with  the  internal  concerns  of  other  States  is 
recognized  by  all  civilized  countries  as  a  funda 
mental  principle  of  the  laws  of  nations,  for  the 
reason  that  the  peace  of  the  world  could  not  be 
maintained  for  a  single  day  without  it.  How,  then, 
can  we  hope  to  preserve  peace  and  fraternal  feel 
ings  among  the  different  portions  of  this  republic, 
unless  we  yield  implicit  obedience  to  a  principle 
which  has  all  the  sanction  of  patriotic  duty  as 
well  as  constitutional  obligation? 

When  the  emigrants  sent  out  by  the  Massa 
chusetts  Emigrant  Aid  Company,  and  their  affili 
ated  societies,  passed  through  the  State  of  Mis 
souri  in  large  numbers  on  their  way  to  Kansas, 
the  violence  of  their  language,  and  the  unmis 
takable  indications  of  their  determined  hostility 
to  the  domestic  institutions  of  that  State,  created 
apprehensions  that  the  object  of  the  company  was 
to  abolitionize  Kansas  as  a  means  of  prosecuting 
a  relentless  warefare  upon  the  institutions  of 
Slavery  within  the  limits  of  Missouri.  These  ap 
prehensions  increased  and  spread  with  the  pro 
gress  of  events,  until  they  became  the  settled  con 
victions  of  the  people  of  that  portion  of  the  State 
most  exposed  to  the  danger  by  their  proximity 
to  the  Kansas  border.  The  natural  consequence 
was,  that  immediate  steps  were  taken  by  the  peo 
ple  of  the  western  counties  of  Missouri  to  stimu 
late,  organize,  and  carry  into  effect  a  system  of 
emigration  similar  to  that  of  the  Massachusetts 
Emigrant  Aid  Company,  for  the  avowed  pur 
pose  of  counteracting  the  effects,  and  protecting 
themselves  and  their  domestic  institutions  from 
the  consequences  of  that  company's  operations. 

The  material  difference  in  the  character  of  the 
two  rival  and  conflicting  movements  consists  in 
the  fact  that  the  one  had  its  origin  in  an  aggres 
sive,  and  the  other  in  a  defensive  policy.  The 
one  was  organized  in  pursuance  of  the  pro- 
vijsions  and  claiming  to  act  under  the  authority 
of  a  legislative  enactment  of  a  distant  State,  whose 
internal  prosperity  and  domestic  security  did  not 
depend  upon  the  success  of  the  movement , 
while  the  other  was  the  spontaneous  action  of 
the  people  living  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of 
the  theatre  of  operations,  excited  by  a  sense  of 
common  danger  to  the  necessity  of  protecting 
their  own  firesides  from  the  apprehended  horrors 
of  servile  insurrection  and  intestine  war.  Both 
parties,  conceiving  it  to  be  essential  to  the  siiccess 
jf  their  respective  plans  that  they  should  be  upon 
Lhe  field  of  operations  prior  to  the  first  election  in 
,he  Territory,  selected  principally  young  men, 
oersons  unencumbered  by  families,  and  whose 
conditions  in  life  enabled  them  to  leave  at  a  mo 
ment's  warning,  and  move  with  great  celerity, 
to  go  at  once,  and  select  and  occupy  the  most  eli 
gible  sites  and  favored  locations  in  the  Territory, 
to  be  held  by  themselvea-and  their  associates  who 
should  follow  them.  For  the  successful  prosecu- 
ion  of  such  a  scheme,  the  Missourians  who  lived 
n  the  immediate  vicinity,  possessed  peculiar  ad 
vantages  over  their  rivals  from  the  more  remote 
portions  of  the  Union.  Each  family  could  send 
me  of  its  members  across  the  line  to  mark  out 
lis  claim,  erect  a  cabin,  and  put  in  a  small  crop, 
sufficient  to  give  him  as  valid  a  right,  to  be  deem 
ed  an  actual  settler  and  qualified  voter  as  those 
ho  were  being  imported  by  the  Emigrant  Aid 
Societies.  In  an  unoccupied  Territory,  where 
he  lands  have  not  been  surveyed,  and  where 
here  were  no  marks  or  lines  to  indicate  the 
joundaries  of  sections  and  quarter-sections,  and 
;vhere  no  legal  title  could  be  had  until  after  the 
surveys  should  be  made,  disputes,  quarrels,  vio- 
euce,  and  bloodshed  might  have  been  expected  as 


THE  KANSAS-NEBRASKA  STRUGGLE. 


the  natural  and  inevitable  consequences  of  such  ex 
traordinary  systems  of  emigration,  which  divided 
and  arrayed  the  settlers  into  two  great  hostile 
parties,  each  having  an  inducement  to  claim  more 
than  was  his  right,  in  order  to  hold  it  for  some 
new  comer  of  hia  own  party,  and  at  the  same 
time  prevent  persons  belonging  to  the  opposite 
party  from  settling  in  the  neighborhood.  As  a 
result  of  this  state  of  things,  the  great  mass  of 
emigrants  from  the  northwest  and  from  other 
States  who  went ^  there  on  their  own  account, 
with  no  other  object  and  influence,  by  no  other 
motives  than  to  improve  their  condition  and  se 
cure  good  homes  for  their  families,  were  compel 
led  to  array  themselves  under  the  banner  of  one 
of  these  hostile  parties,  in  order  to  insure  protec 
tion  to  themselves  and  their  claims  against  the  ag 
gressions  and  violence  of  the  other. 

At  Ihe  first  election  held  in  the  Territory,  on 
the  29th  day  of  November,  1854,  for  a  delegate 
to  Congress,  J.  W.  Whitfield  was  chosen  by  an 
overwhelming  majority,  having  received  the 
votes  of  men  of  all  parties  who  were  in  favor  of 
the  principles  of  the  Kansas-Nebraska  act,  and 
opposed  to  placing  the  political  destinies  of  the 
Territory  in  the  keeping  of  the  Abolition  party 
of  the  northern  States,  to  be  managed  through 
the  machinery  of  their  emigrant  Aid  Compa 
nies.  No  sooner  was  the  result  of  the  election 
known,  than  the  defeated  party  proclaimed 
throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  repub 
lic,  that  it  had  been  produced  by  the  invasion  of 
the  Territory  by  a  Missouri  mob,  which  had  over 
awed  and  outnumbered  and  outvoted  the  bona 
fide  settlers  of  the  Territory.  By  reference  to 
the  executive  journal  of  the  Territory,  which 
will  be  found  in  the  papers  furnished  by  the 
President  of  the  United  States  in  response  to  a 
call  of  the  Senate,  it  will  be  found  that  Governor 
Reeder,  in  obedience  to  what  he  considered  to  be 
a  duty  enjoined  on  him  by  the  act  of  Congress  or 
ganizing  the  Territory,  on  the  10th  day  of  Novem 
ber,  1854,  issued  a  proclamation,  prescribing  the 
time,  place,  and  mode  of  holding  the  election,  and 
appointing  by  name  three  citizens  of  the  Territory, 
residing  in  each  election  district,  to  conduct  the 
election,  in  such  district,  together  with  the  follow 
ing  oath,  which  was  taken  by  the  judges  before 
entering  on  their  duties,  to  wit : 

"We  do  severally  swear  that  we  will  perform  our 
duties  as  judges  of  the  election,  to  be  held  this  day, 

in  the district  of  the  Territory  of  Kansas,  to 

the  best  of  our  judgment  and  ability  ;  that  we  will 
keep  a  correct  and  faithful  record  or  list  of  persona 
who  shall  vote  at  said  election  ;  that  we  will  poll  no 
tickets  from  any  person  who  is  not  an  actual  bona  fide 
resident  and  inhabitant  of  said  Territory  on  the  day 
cf  election,  and  whom  we  shall  not  honestly  believe  to 
be  a  qualified  voter  according  to  the  act  of  Congress 
organizing  said  Territory  ;  that  we  will  reject  the  votes 
of  all  and  every  non-resident  whora  we  shall  believe 
to  have  come  into  the  Territory  for  the  mere  purpose 
of  voting  ;  that  in  all  cases  where  we  are  ignorant  of 
the  voter's  right,  we  will  require  legal  evidence 
thereof,  by  his  own  oath  or  otherwise  ;  that  we  will 
make  a  true  and  faithful  return  of  the  votes  which 
shall  be  polled  to  the  governor  of  the  said  Terri 
tory." 

The  same  proclamation  pointed  out  in  detail 
the  mode  in  which  the  election  should  be  conduct 
ed  ;  and,  among  other  things,  that  the  polls  will 
be  opened  for  reception  of  votes  between  eight 
and  ten  o'clock,  a.  m.,  and  kept  open  continually 
until  six  o'clock,  p.  m. ;  that  the  judges  will  keep 
two  corresponding  lists  of  persons  who  shall  vote, 
numbering  each  name :  that  when  a  dispute 
arises  as  to  the  qualifications  of  a  voter,  the  judges 
shall  examine  the  voter  or  any  other  persons,  un 
der  oath,  upon  the  subject,  and  the  decision  of 
a  majority  of  the  board  will  be  conclusive ;  that 
when  the  election  shall  close,  the  judges  shall 
open  and  count  the  votes,  and  keep  two  corre- 
7 


spending  tally-lists,  and  if  the  tally-lists  shall  agree, 
the  judges  shall  then  publicly  proclaim  the  result, 
and  shall  make  up  and  sign  duplicate  certificates 
in  the  form  prescribed;  and  shall  certify,  under 
their  oaths,  that  the  certificate  is  a  true 'and  cor 
rect  return  of  the  votes  polled  by  lawful  resident 
voters. 

The  proclamation  also  provides  that  the  tickets 
or  votes  polled  shall,  after  being  counted,  be 
again  deposited  in  the  box,  together  with  one 
copy  of  the  oath,  and  one  list  of  the  voters,  and 
one  tally-list,  and  one  certificate  of  return;  and 
that  the  judges  shall  seal  them  up  in  the  box,  and 
carefully  preserve  the  same  until  called  for  by 
the  governor  of  said  Territory,  in  the  event  of 
its  correctness  being  contested  ;  and  that  the  re 
maining  copy  of  the  oath,  list  of  voters,  tally-list, 
and  return,  will  be  taken  by  one  of  the  judges, 
who  shall  deliver  the  same  in  person  to  the  gov 
ernor. 

The  proclamation  also  provides  that,  "  In  case 
any  person  or  persons  shall  dispute  the  fairness 
or  correctness  of  the  return  of  any  election-dis 
trict,  they  shall  make  a  written  statement,  direct 
ed  to  the  governor,  and  setting  forth  the  specific 
cause  of  complaint  or  errors  in  the  conducting  or 
returning  of  the  election  in  said  district,  signed 
by  not  less  than  ten  qualified  voters  of  the  Terri 
tory,  and  with  an  affidavit  of  one  or  more  quali 
fied  voters  to  the  truth  of  the  fact  therein  stated ; 
and  the  said  complaint  and  affidavit  shall  be 
presented  to  the  governor  on  or  before  the  fourth 
day  of  December  next,  when  the  proper  proceed 
ings  will  be  taken  to  hear  and  decide  such  com 
plaint." 

By  reference  to  the  executive  journal  of  the 
Territory,  we  find  the  following  entry  : 

"  December  4, 1854. — The  judges  of  the  several  elec 
tion  districts  made  return  of  the  votes  polled  at  the 
election  held  on  the  29th  day  of  November  last,  for  a 
delegate  to  the  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United 
States;  from  which  it  appeared  that  the  votes  in  the 
said  several  districts  were  as  follows,  to  wit:" 

Here  follows  a  list  of  the  votes  cast  for  each 
candidate  in  each  of  the  seventeen  districts  of  the 
Territory,  showing  that 

J.  W.  Whitfield  had  received        2,258  votes. 

All  other  persons  received  575     " 

And  on  the  same  page  is  the  following  entry  : 

"December  5,  1854. — On  examining  and  collating 
the  returns,  J.  W.  Whitfield  is  declared  by  th*»  govern 
or  to  be  duly  elected  delegate  to  the  House  of  Repre 
sentatives  of  the  United  States,  and  the  same  day  the 
certificate  of  the  governor,  under  the  seal  of  the 
Territory,  issued  to  said  J.  W.  Whitfield  of  his  elec 
tion." 

It  nowhere  appears  that  Gen.  Whitfield's  right 
to  a  seat  by  virtue  of  that  election  was  ever  con 
tested.  It  does  not  appear  that  "  ten  qualified 
voters  of  the  Territory"  were  ever  found  who 
were  willing  to  make  the  "  written  statement  di 
rected  to  the  governor,  with  an  affidavit"  of  one 
or  more  qualified  voters  to  the  "  truth  of  the  facts 
therein  stated,"  to  "  dispute  the  fairness  or  cor 
rectness  of  the  returns,"  or  to  "  set  forth  specific 
cause  of  complaint  or  errors  in  the  conducting  or 
returning  of  the  election,"  in  any  one  of  the  sev 
enteen  districts  of  the  Territory.  Certain  it  is, 
that  there  could  not  have  been  a  system  of  fraud 
and  violence  such  as  has  been  charged  by  the 
agents  and  supporters  of  the  emigrant  aid  socie 
ties,  unless  the  governor  and  judges  of  election 
were  parties  to  it ;  and  your  committee  are  not 
prepared  to  assume  a  fact  so  disreputable  to  them, 
and  so  improbable  upon  the  state  of  facts  pre 
sented,  without  specific  charges  and  direct  proof. 
In  the  absence  of  all  proof  and  probable  truth, 
the  charge  that  the  Missourians  had  invaded  the 
Territory  and  controlled  the  congressional  elec 
tion  by  fraud  and  violence,  was  circulated 
throughout  the  Free  States,  and  made  the  basis 


98 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  SLAVERY  RESTRICTION. 


of  the  most  inflammatory  appeals  to  all  men  op 
posed  to  the  principles  oY  the  Kansas-Nebraska 
act  to  emigrate  or  send  emigrants  to  Kansas,  for 
the  purpose  of  repelling  the  invaders,  and  assist 
ing  their  friends  who  were  then  in  the  Territory 
in  putting  down  the  slave  power,  and  prohibiting 
Slavery  in  Kansas,  with  the  view  of  making  it  a 
Free  State.  Exaggerated  accounts  of  the  large 
number  of  emigrants  on  their  way  under  the 
auspices  of  the  emigrant  aid  companies,  with  the 
view  of  controlling  the  election  for  members  of 
the  territorial  legislature,  which  was  to  take 
place  on  the  30th  of  March,  1855,  were  published 
and  circulated.  These  accounts  being  repub- 
lished  and  believed  in  Missouri,  where  the  ex 
citement  had  already  been  inflamed  to  a  fearful 
intensity,  induced  a  corresponding  effort  to  send 
at  least  an  equal  number,  to  counteract  the  ap 
prehended  result  of  this  new  importation.  Your 
committee  have  not  been  able  to  obtain  definite 
and  satisfactory  information  in  regard  to  the  al 
leged  irregularities  in  conducting  the  election, 
and  the  number  of  illegal  votes  on  the  30th  of 
March ;  but,  from  the  most  reliable  sources  of 
information  accessible  to  your  committee,  in 
cluding  various  papers,  documents,  and  state 
ments,  kindly  furnished  by  Messrs.  Whitfield 
and  Reeder,  rival  claimants  of  the  delegate's  seat 
in  Congress  for  Kansas  Territory,  it  would  seem 
that  the  facts  are  substantially  as  follows  : 

The  election  was  held  in  obedience  to  the  pro 
clamation  of  the  governor  of  the  Territory,  which 
prescribed  the  mode  of  proceeding,  the  form  of 
the  oath  and  returns,  the  precautionary  safe 
guards  against  illegal  voting,  and  the  mode  of 
contesting  the  election,  which  were,  in  substance, 
the  same  as  those  already  referred  to  in  con 
nection  with  the  congressional  election.  When 
the  period  arrived  for  the  governor  to  canvass  the 
returns,  and  issue  certificates  to  the  persons 
elected,  it  appeared  that  protests  had  been  filed 
against  the  fairness  of  the  proceedings  and  the 
correctness  of  the  returns,  in  seven  out  of  the 
eighteen  election-districts  into  which  the  Terri 
tory  had  been  divided  for  election  purposes,  al 
leging  fraudulent  and  illegal  voting  by  persons 
who  were  not  actual  settlers  and  qualified  voters 
of  the  Territory.  It  also  appears,  that  in  some  of 
these  contested  cases,  the  form  of  the  oath  ad 
ministered  to  the  judges,  and  of  the  returns  made 
by  them,  were  not  in  conformity  to  the  proclama 
tion  of  the  governor.  After  a  careful  investiga 
tion  of  the  facts  of  each  case,  as  presented  by 
the  returns  of  the  judges,  and  the  protests  and 
allegations  of  all  persons  who  disputed  the  fair 
ness  of  the  election  and  the  correctness  of  the 
returns,  the  governor  came  to  the  conclusion 
that  it  was  his  duty  to  set  aside  the  election  in 
these  seven  disputed  districts ;  the  effect  of  which 
was,  to  create  two  vacancies  in  the  council,  and 
nine  in  the  House  of  Representatives  of  the  Terri 
tory,  to  be  filled  by  a  new  election  ;  and  to  change 
the  result  so  far  as  to  cause  the  certificate  for  one 
councilman  and  one  representative  to  issue  to 
different  persons  than  those  returned  as  elected 
by  the  judges.  Accordingly  the  governor  issued 
his  writs  for  special  elections,  to  be  held  on  the 
24th  of  May,  to  fill  those  vacancies,  and,  at  the 
same  time,  granted  certificates  of  election  to 
eleven  councilmen  and  seventeen  representatives, 
whose  election  had  not  been  contested,  and  whom 
he  adjudged  to  have  been  fairly  elected.  At  the 
special  election  to  fill  these  vacancies,  three  of 
the  persons  whose  election  on  the  30th  of  March 
had  been  set  aside  for  the  reasons  already  stated, 
were  re-elected,  and  in  the  other  districts  different 
persons  were  returned  ;  and  the  governor  having 
adjudged  them  to  have  been  duly  elected,  ac 
cordingly  granted  them  certificates  of  election, 
thus  making  the  full  complement  of  thirteen 
councilnien  and  twenty-six  representatives,,  of 


whom,  by  the  organic  law  of  the  Territory,  the 
legislature  was  to  be  composed.  On  the  17th 
day  of  April  the  governor  issued  his  proclama 
tion,  summoning  these  thirteen  councilmen  and 
twenty-six  representatives,  whom  he  had  com 
missioned  as  having  been  fairly  elected,  to  assem 
ble  at  Pawnee  City  on  the  2nd  day  of  July,  and 
organize  as  the  legislature  of  the  Territory  of 
Kansas. 

It  appears  from  the  journal  that  the  two 
Houses  did  assemble,  in  obedience  to  the  Gover 
nor's  proclamation,  at  the  time  and  place  ap- 
Eointed  by  him  ;  and,  after  the  oath  of  office  had 
een  duly  administered  by  one  of  the  judges  of 
the  supreme  court  of  the  Territory,  to  each  of 
the  members  who  held  the  Governor's  certificate, 
proceeded  to  organize  their  respective  houses  by 
the  election  of  their  officers  ;  and  each  notified 
the  other,  by  resolution,  that  they  were  thus  duly 
organized.  Also,  by  joint  resolution,  appointed 
a  committee  who  waited  on  the  Governor,  and 
informed  him  that  "  the  two  houses  of  the  Kan 
sas  Legislature  are  organized,  and  arenowready 
to  proceed  to  business,  and  to  receive"  such 
communication  as  he  may  deem  necessary. 

In  response  to  this  joint  resolution,  "  a  message 
from  the  Governor,  by  Mr.  Higgins,  his  private 
secretary,  transmitting  his  message,  was  received, 
and  ordered  to  be  read." 
The  message  commences  thus  : 

"  To  the  Honorable  the  Council  and  House  of  Repre 
sentatives  of  the  Territory  of  Kansas  : 

"  Having  been  duly  notified  that  your  respective 
bodies  have  organized  for  the  performance  of  your  of 
ficial  functions,  I  herewith  submit  to  you  the  usual 
executive  communication  relative  to  subjects  of  legis 
lation,  which  universal  and  long-contiuued  usage  in 
analogous  casts  would  seem  to  d'-mand.  although  110 
express  requirement  of  it  is  to  be  found  in  the  act  of 
Congress  which  has  brought  us  into  official  existence, 
and  prescribed  our  official  duties. 

"  The  position  which  we  occupy,  and  the  solemn 
trust  which  is  confided  to  us  for  originating  the  laws 
and  institutions,  and  moulding  the  destinies  of  a  new 
republic  in  the  very  geographical  centre  of  our  vast 
and  magnificent  confederation,  cannot  but  impress  us 
with  a  deep  and  solemn  sense  tf  the  heavy  responsi 
bility  which  we  have  assumed,  and  admonish  us  to 
lay  aside  all  selfish  and  equivocal  motives,  to  discard 
all  unworthy  ends,  and,  iu  the  spirit  of  justice  and 
charity  to  each  other,  with  pure  hearts,  tem 
pered  feelings,  and  sober  judgments,  to  address  our 
selves  to  our  task,  and  so  perform  it  in  the  fear  and 
reverence  of  that  God  who  oversees  our  work,  that 
the  star  that  we  expect  to  add  to  the  national  banner 
shall  be  dimmed  by  no  taint  or  tarnish  of  dishonor, 
and  be  subject  to  no  reproach  save  that  which  springs 
from  the  inevitable  fallibility  of  just  and  upright 
men." 

The  Govenior,  with  the  view  to  the  "  ascertain 
ment  of  the  existing  law"  in  the  Territory,  pro 
ceeds  to  trace  the  history  of  all  legislation  affect 
ing  it  since,  the  country  was  acquired  from 
France,  and  advises  the  legislature  to  pass  such 
laws  as  the  public  interest  might  require  upon  all 
appropriate  subjects  of  legislation,  and  particu 
larly  the  Slavery  question,  the  division  of  the 
Territory  into  counties,  the  organization  of  coun 
ty  courts,  the  election  of  judicial  and  ministerial 
officers,  education,  taxes,  revenues,  the  location 
of  the  permanent  seat  of  government,  and  the  or 
ganization  of  the  militia,  as  subjects  worthy  of 
their  immediate  attention. 

From  this  message,  as  well  as  from  all  the  of 
ficial  acts  of  the  Governor  preceding  it,  having 
reference  to  the  election  and  return  of  the  mem 
bers  and  the  convening  of  the  two  houses  for  le 
gislative  business,  the  conclusion  is  irresistible, 
that  up  to  this  period  of  time  the  Governor  had 
never  conceived  the  idea — if,  indeed,  he  has  since 
entertained  it — that  the  two  houses  were  spurious 
and  fraudulent  assemblies,  having  no  rightful 


THE  KANSAS-NEBRASKA  STRUGGLE. 


99 


authority  to  pass  laws  which  would  be  binding 
upon  the  people  of  Kansas.  On  the  first  day  of 
the  session,  aud  immediately  after  the  organiza 
tion  of  the  house  was  effected,  the  following  Re 
solution  was  adopted: 

"  Resolved,  That  all  persons  who  may  desire  to  con 
test  the  seats  of  any  persons  now  holding  certificates  of 
election  aa  members  of  thin  house,  may  present  their 
protects  to  the  committee  on  credentials,  and  that  no 
tice  thereof  shall  be  given  to  the  persons  holding 
such  certificates." 

On  the  4th  day  of  July,  (being  the  third  day 
of  the  session,)  the  majority  of  the  committee,  in 
cluding  four  of  the  five  members,  reported  that, 
"HAVING  HEARD  AND  EXAMINED  ALL  THE  EVI 
DENCE  TOUCHING  THE  MATTER  OF  INQUIRY  BE 
FORE  THEM,  and  taking  the  organic  law  of  Con 
gress,  passed  on  the  20th  day  of  May,  in  the  year 
1854,  organizing  the  Territories  of  Kansas  and 
Nebraska,"  as  their  guiding  star,  they  have  ar 
rived  at  the  conclusions  which  they  proceed  to 
elucidate  and  enforce  in  a  lengthy  report.  From 
this  report,  it  appears  that  fifteen  out  of  twenty- 
two  members  present  were  permitted  to  retain 
their  seals  by  unanimous  consent,  no  one  appear 
ing  to  contest  or  dispute  the  fairness  of  the  elec 
tion,  or  regularity  or  truthfulness  of  the  return, 
in  either  of  their  cases.  Hence  the  contest  was 
reduced  to  the  claims  of  one  member  who  re 
ceived  the  certificate  under  the  general  election 
of  the  30th  of  March,  and  the  six  members  pre 
sent  who  received  certificates  under  the  special 
election  of  the  24th  of  May.  In  the  first  case  the 
decision  of  the  Governor  was  reversed,  and  the 
seat  awarded  to  the  candidate  who  received  the 
highest  number  of  votes  at  the  election  of  the 
30th  of  March,  and  from  whom  the  certificate  had 
been  withheld  by  the  Governor,  upon  the  ground 
of  irregularity  in  the  election  and  returns  from 
one  precinct,  the  exclusion  of  which  poll  gave 
the  majority  to  the  opposing  candidate.  In  the 
other  six  cases,  the  sitting  members  were  depriv 
ed  of  their  seats  ;  and  the  candidates  receiving 
the  highest  number  of  votes  at  the  general  elec 
tion  on  the  30th  of  March,  were  awarded  their 
places,  upon  the  ground  that  the  special  election 
on  the  24th  of  May  was  illegal  and  void,  the  Gov 
ernor  not  being  authorized,  by  the  organic  law 
of  the  Territory,  to  go  behind  the  returns,  and 
set  aside  the  election  held  on  the  30th  of  March. 

The  minority  report  dissents  from  the  reason 
ing,  and  protests  against  the  conclusions  of  the 
majority,  and  affirms  the  right  of  the  sitting  mem 
bers  to  retain  their  seats,  upon  the  ground  that 
the  governor's  certificate  was  not  merely  prima 
facie  evidence,  but  was  conclusive,  in  respect  to 
the  rights  of  all  claimants  and  contestants ;  and 
nence  the  house  could  not  go  behind  the  certifi 
cates  of  election  to  inquire  whether  there  had 
been  a  previous  election  in  those  districts  on  the 
30th  of  March,  and  who  had  received  the  highest 
number  of  legal  votes  at  that  election.  The 
proposition  is  thus  stated  in  the  minority  report : 
"I  cannot  agree  that  this  body  has  the  right  to 
go  behind  the  decisions  of  the  governor,  who,  by 
virtue  of  his  office,  is  the  organizing  federal  arm 
of  the  general  government,  to  evolve  and  man 
age  a  new  government  for  this  Territory,  for  the 
obvious  reason  that  Congress  makes  him  the  sole 
judge  of  the  qualifications  for  membership."  It 
is  true  that  the  minority  report,  alludes  to  "  evi 
dence  before  the  committee  of  great  deficiencies, 
not  in  the  form  of  conducting  the  elections,  but  in 
the  manner  of  holding  them,  both  as  to  the  quali 
fications  of  the  judges  who  presided,  and  the  re 
turns  made  out  by  them,"  and  says  there  is 
"  no  doubt  that  these  illegal  proceedings  on  the 
one  hand  induced  the  governor  to  withhold  cer 
tificates  from  some  who,  from  the  number  of  votes 
returned  in  their  favor,  might  at  the  same  time 
appear  to  have  been  properly  elected,  and  on  the 


.  other,  to  have  been  the  ground  on  which  he  pre- 

j  seated  a  certificate  in  one  instance,  and  in  an 
other  ordered  a  new  election  in  reference  to 

i  other  districts."  But  while  the  minority  report 
affirms  the  right  of  the  governor  to  go  behind 
the  returns  and  investigate  irregularities  and  ille 
gal  voting  at  the  election,  as  well  as  deficiencies 
in  the  forms  of  the  returns,  and  asserts  that  he 
did  exercise  this  right  in  each  case  in  which  he 

[  granted  or  withheld  a  certificate,  it  maintains 
that  the  governor's  decision,  as  evinced  by  his 
certificate,  was  final  and  conclusive  and  could 
not  be  reviewed,  much  less  reversed,  by  either 
branch  of  the  Territorial  legislature.  So  far  as 
the  question  involves  the  legality  of  the  Kansas 
legislature,  and  the  validity  of  its  acts,  it  is  en 
tirely  immaterial  whether  we  adopt  the  reasoning 
and  conclusions  of  the  minority  or  majority  re- 

Erts  ;  for  each  proves  that  the  legislature  was 
jally  and  duly  constituted.     The  minority  re- 
;  port  establishes  the  fact,  by  the  position  that  the 
!  governor's  certificate  was  conclusive,  and  that 
|  he  granted  certificates  to  ten  out  of  the  thirteen 
cpuucihnen,  and  to  seventeen  out  of  the  twenty- 
six  representatives  who  finally  held  their  seats, 
which  was  largely  more  than  a  quorum  of  each 
branch  of  the  legislature.     The  majority  report 
establishes  the   same  fact,  by  the  position  that 
j  after  going  behind  the  governor's  certificate, 
and  carefully  examining  the  facts,  they  con 
firmed  these  same  ten  councilmeu  and  seven 
teen  representatives    in  their  seats,  and  then 
aAvarded  the  seats  of  the  other  three  councilmen 
and  nine  representatives  to  the  candidates  whom 
they  believed  to  have  been  legally  elected  at  the 
general  election  on  the  3Uth  of  March. 

The  house,  by  eighteen  votes  in  the  affirmative 
to  one  vote  in  the  negative,  passed  a  resolution 
adopting  the  majority  report,  and  declaring  that 
the  contestants  "  having  been  duly  elected  on  the 
30th  of  March,  1855,  are  entitled  to  their  seals  as 
members  of  this  house."  Whereupon  four  of  the 
sitting  members,  whose  seats  were  vacated  by  the 
adoption  of  the  majority  report,  signed  a  protest, 
and  asked  that  it  be  spread  on  the  journal  of  the 
house,  which  was  accordingly  done  in  the  follow 
ing  words  : 

"  Protest. 

''We, the  undersigned,  members  of  the  House  of 
Representatives  of  Kansas  Territory,  believe  the  or 
ganic  act  organizing  the  said  Territory  gives  this 
house  no  power  to  oust  any  member  from  this  house 
who  has  received  a  certificate  from  the  governor;  that 
this  house  cannot  go  behind  an  election  called  by  the 
governor,  and  consider  any  claims  based  on  a  prior 
election.  \Ve  would  therefore  protest  against  such  a 
proceeding,  and  ask  this  protest  to  be  spread  upon 
the  journal  of  this  house. 

"JOHN  HCTCHINSON, 
WILLIAM  JESSEE, 
AUGUSTUS  WATTLES, 
E.  D.  LADD." 

Under  date  of  July  6,  the  journal  contains 
a  message  from  the  governor   to  the  "  house  of 
representatives  of  the  Territory  of  Kansas,"  re- 
j  turning  "  house  bill  entitled  '  An  act  to  remove 
I  the  seat  of  government  temporarily  to  the  Shaw- 
j  nee  Manual  Labor  School,  in   the  Territory  of 
i  Kansas,'   together  with  his  objections."     While 
the  governor,  in  assigning  his  reasons  for  return- 
!  ing  the  bill,  labors  to  prove  that  the   legislature 
|  had  transcended  its  authority  under  the  organic 
I  act,  in  adopting  this  particular  measure,  and  ar- 
!  gues  against  its' expediency,  on  the  score  of  the 
|  loss  of  time  and  money  in  removing  to  a  differ- 
!  ent  place  during  the  session,  he  clearly  and  dis- 
:  tinctly  recognizes  the  council  and  house  of  repre 
sentatives  as  constituting   the  legislature  of  the 
Territory  of   Kansas,  elected   and  organized  hi 
conformity  to  the  act  of  Congress  creating  the 
j  Territory. 

The  reasons  of  the  governor  for  returning  the 


100 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  SLAVERY  RESTRICTION. 


bill,  was  spread  upon  the  journal,  and  upon  re 
consideration,  it  was  passed  by  a  two  thirds'  vote 
in  each  branch  of  the  legislature,  and  thus  be 
came  the  law  of  the  land,  "the  objections  of  the 
governor  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding/' 

On  the  same  day  the  following  resolution  was 
adopted  by  both  houses : 

"  Resolved  by  the  House  of  Representatives  of  the 
Territory  of  Kansas,  (the  Council  concurring  therein,') 
That  the  legislature  of  said  Territory  do  adjourn  on 
the  6th  day  of  July,  A.  D.  1855.  to  meet  again  on 
Monday,  the  16th  day  of  July,  1855,  at  2  o'clock,  p.  M., 
at  the  Shawnee  Manual-labor  School,  in  the  said  Ter 
ritory." 

And  on  the  same  day  the  following  resolution 
was  also  adopted  by  both  houses : 

"  Rf.solvcd,  That  a  Committee  of  three  be  appointed 
on  the  part  of  the  Council,  to  act  in  conjunction  with 
a  Committie  on  the  part  of  the  Hou-e  of  Representa 
tives,  to  inform  his  excellency  the  Governor  th*t  the 
Legislative  Assembly  will  adjourn  this  afternoon,  to 
meet  on  Monday,  the  16th  instant,  at  the  Shawnee 
Manual-labor  School,  in  the  Territory  of  Kansas." 

On  the  16th  of  July,  the  two  houses  assembled, 
in  pursuance  of  the  adjournment,  at  the  Shawnee 
Manual  labor  School,  known  as  Shawnee  Mission, 
and  proceeded  to  the  discharge  of  their  legisla 
tive  duties.  In  the  mean  time  the  Governor  had 
also  repaired  to  Shawnee  Mission,  it  being  the 
place  of  his  residence  in  the  Territory,  and  the 
seat  of  the  executive  offices  as  established  and 
continued  by  himself,  during  the  whole  period  he 
exercised  the  executive  functions. 

On  the  21st  of  July,  a  message  was  received 
from  the  Governor,  by  his  private  secretary,  Mr. 
Lowry,  directed  "  To  the  House  of  Representa 
tives  of  the  Territory  of  Kansas,"  in  which  he 
says :  "  I  return  to  your  House,  in  which  they 
originated,  the  bill  entitled  '  An  act  to  prevent 
the  sale  of  intoxicating  liquors,  and  games  of 
chance,  within  one  mile  of  the  Shawnee  Manual- 
labor  School,  in  the  Territory  of  Kansas,'  and 
the  bill  entitled  '  An  act  to  establish  a  ferry  at 
the  town  of  Atchison,  in  Kansas  Territory,' 
without  my  approval.  I  see  nothing  in  the  bills 
themselves  to  prevent  my  sanction  of  them,  arid 
my  reasons  for  disapproval  have  been,  doubtless, 
anticipated  by  you,  as  necessarily  resulting 
from  the  opinion  expressed  in  my  message  of 
the  6th  instant." 

The  Governor  then  proceeds  to  argue  the 
question  at  great  length,  tffketker  the  legislature 
zs  now  in  session  at  a  place  which  can  be  recog 
nized  as  a  seat  of  government,  where  the  business 
of  legislation  can  be  legally  or  legitimately  car 
ried  on. 

He  does  not  question  the  fairness  and  legality 
of  the  election  of  the  members  composing  the 
legislature ;  nor  the  regularity  and  validity  of 
their  organization;  nor  their  competency  as  a 
legislature  to  pass  all  laws  which  they  may 
deem  necessary  and  proper  for  the  best  interests 
of  the  people  of  Kansas,  provided  it  shall  be  done 
at  the  right  place.  Upon  this  point  he  says : 

"  It  seems  to  be  plain  that  the  legislature  now  in 
session,  so  far  as  the  place  is  concerned,  is  in  contra 
vention  of  the  act  of  Congress,  and  where  they  have 
no  right  to  sit,  and  can  make  no  valid  legislation. 
Entertaining  these  views,  I  can  give  no  sanction  to 
any  bill  that  may  be  passed  ;  and  if  my  reasons  are 
rot  satisfactory  to  the  Legislative  Assembly,  it  follows 
that  we  must  act  independently  of  each  other." 

In  conclusion  the  Governor  says  : 

"If  I  am  right  in  these  opinions,. and  our  Territory 
shall  derive  no  fruits  from  the  meeting  of  the  present 
Legislative  Assembly,  I  shall  at  least  have  the  satis 
faction  of  recollecting  that  I  called  the  attention  of 
the  Assembly  to  the  point  before  they  removed,  and 
that  the  responsibility,  therefore,  rests  not  on  the 
Executive." 

The  Governor  having  thus  suspended  all  offi 
cial  intercourse  with  the  two  branches  of  the 


legislature,  refusing  to  examine  their  acts  with 
a  view  of  either  approving  or  disapproving 
them,  they  appointed  a  joint  committee  of  the 
two  houses  to  draught  a  memorial  to  the  Presi 
dent  of  the  United  States,  asking  his  removal 
from  the  office  of  governor;  which  memorial 
was  signed  by  the  presiding  officers  and  mem 
bers  in  joint  session.  The  memorialists,  after 
reviewing  the  causes  which  had  led  to  such 
serious  difficulties,  and  vindicating  the  right  of 
the  legislature,  under  the  organic  act,  to  remove 
the  seat  of  government  from  Pawnee  City  to 
Shawuee  Mission,  concluded  as  follows: 

"  In  conclusion,  we  charge  the  Governor,  A.  H. 
Reeder,  with  willful  neglect  of  the  interests  of  the 
Territory ;  with  endeavoring,  by  all  means  in  his  power, 
to  subvert  th*  ends  and  objects  intended  to  be  accom 
plished  by  the  'Kansas  and  Nebraska  bill,'  by  neglect 
ing  the  public  interests  and  making  them  subservient 
to  private  speculation;  by  aiding  and  encouraging 
persons  in  factious  and  treasonable  opposition  to  the 
wishes  of  the  majority  of  the  citizens  of  the  Territory, 
and  the  laws  of  the  United  States  in  force  in  said 
Territory  ;  by  encouraging  persons  to  violate  the  laws 
of  the  United  States,  and  set  at  defiance  the  com 
mands  of  the  general  Government ;  bv  inciting  persons 
to  resist  the  laws  which  may  be  passed  by  the  present 
Legislative  Assembly  of  this  Territory.  For  these, 
and  many  other  reasons,  we  respectfully  pray  your 
excellency  to  remove  tne  said  A  H.  Reeder  from  the 
exercise  of  the  functions  now  held  by  him  in  said 
Territory  ;  and  represent  that  a  continuance  of  the 
same  will  be  prejudicial  to  the  best  interests  of 
the  said  Territory  And,  as  in  duty  bound,  we  will 
ever  pray,"  etc.,  etc. 

[Signed  by  the  officers  and  members  of  both  houses.] 

On  the  15th  of  August,  Governor  Reeder  ad 
dressed  a  note  to  the  Department  of  State, 
acknowledging  the  receipt  of  a  communication 
from  the  acting  Secretary,  under  date  of  the  28th 
July,  in  which  he  was  notified  that  "in  conse 
quence  of  your  [Governor  Reeder's]  purchase 
of  Kansas  half-breed  lands,"  and  "more  espe 
cially  the  undertaking  of  sundry  persons,  your 
self  included,  to  lay  out  new  cities  on  military 
or  other  reservations  in  the  Territory  of  Kan 
sas,"  and  "  more  particularly,  as  you  have  sum 
moned  the  Legislative  Assembly  of  the  Territory 
to  meet  at  one  of  the  places  referred  to,  deno 
minated  in  your  official  proclamation  '  Pawnee 
City,'  I  have,  therefore,  by  the  direction  of  the 
President,  to  notify  you  that  your  functions  and 
authority  as  Governor  of  the  Territory  of  Kansas 
are  hereby  terminated." 

On  the  16th  of  August,  the  journal  of  the 
House  of  Representatives  says : 

"  The  following  message  was  received  from  Gover 
nor  A.  H.  Reeder,  by  Mr.  Lowry,  his  private  secre 
tary  : 

"  To  the  honorable  the  members  of  the  Council  and 
House  of  Representatives  of  the  Territory  of  Kansas : 

"GENTLEMBN  :  Although,  in  my  message  to  your 
bodies  under  date  of  the  21st  instant,  (ult.)  I  stated 
that  I  was  unable  to  convince  myself  of  the  legality 
of  your  session  at  this  place,  for  reasons  then  given  ; 
and  although  that  opinion  still  remains  unchanged, 
yet,  inasmuch  as  my  reasons  were  not  satisfactory  to 
your  body,  and  the  bills  passed  by  your  houses  have 
been  up  to  this  time  sent  to  me  for  approval,  it  is 
proper  that  I  should  inform  you  that  alter  your  ad 
journment  of  yesterday  I  received  official  notification 
that  my  functions  as  governor  of  the  Territory  of 
Kansas  were  terminated.  No  successor  having  ar 
rived,  Secretary  Woodson  will  of  course  perform  the 
duties  of  the  office  as  acting  governor. 

"A.  H.  REEDER." 

Inasmuch  as  Governor  Reeder  dissolved  his 
official  relations  with  the  legislature,  and  denied 
the  validity  of  their  acts,  solely  upon  the  ground 
that  they  were  enacted  in  the  wrong  place,  it  be 
comes  material  to  inquire  whether  it  was  com 
petent  for  them,  under  the  organic  act,  to  remove 
the  seat  of  government  temporarily  from  "  Paw 
nee  City"  to  the  Shawnee  Mission.  The  24th 


THE  KANSAS-NEBRASKA  STRUGGLE. 


eectron  of  the  organic  act  provides  "  that  the 
legislative  power  of  the  Territory  shall  extend 
to  all  rightful  subjects  of  legislation  consistent 
with  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  and  the 
provisions  of  this  act." 

That  the  location  of  the  seat  of  government, 
and  the  changing  of  the  same  whenever  the  pub 
lic  interests  and  convenience  may  require  it,  is  a 
"  rightful  subject  of  legislation,"  is  too  plain  to 
admit  of  argument ;  hence  the  power  is  clearly 
included  in  this  general  grant,  and  may  be  exer 
cised  at  pleasure  by  the  legislature,  unless  it 
shall  be  made  to  appear  that  Congress,  by  some 
other  provision,  has  imposed  restrictions  or  con 
ditions  upon  its  exercise. 

The  thirty-first  section  of  the  organic  act  pro 
vides  "that  the  temporary  seat  of  government 
of  said  Territory  is  hereby  located  at  Fort  Leav- 
enworth  ;  and  that  such  portions  of  the  public 
buildings  as  may  not  be  actually  used  and  need 
ed  for  military  purposes  may  be  occupied  and 
used,  under  the  direction  of  the  governor  and 
legislative  assembly,  for  such  public  purposes  as 
may  be  required  under  the  provisions  of  this 
act;"  and  the  twenty-second  section  of  the  same 
act  provides  that  "the  persons  thus  elected  to 
the  legislative  assembly  shall  meet  at  such  place 
and  on  such  day  as  the  governor  shall  appoint" 
for  the  first  meeting.  These  two  provisions,  be 
ing  parts  of  the  same  act,  and  having  reference 
to  the  same  subject-matter,  must  be  taken  to 
gether,  and  receive  such  a  construction  as  will 
give  full  effect  to  each,  and  not  render  either 
nugatory.  While,  therefore,  the  governor  was 
authorized  to  convene  the  legislature,  in  the  first 
instance,  at  such  place  as  he  should  appoint,  still 
he  was  required,  by  that  provision  which  made 
Fort  Leavenworth  the  temporary  seat  of  govern 
ment,  with  the  view  of  using  some  of  the  public 
buildings,  to  designate  as  the  place  some  one  of 
the  public  buildings  within  the  military  reserva 
tion  of  Fort  Leavenworth.  Had  not  Congress, 
in  the  mean  time,  interposed  and  changed  Ihe  law, 
as  here  presented,  the  governor  would  not  have 
been  authorized  to  have  convened  the  legislature 
at  "  Pawnee  City,"  nor  at  any  other  place  in  the 
Territory  than  some  one  of  the  public  buildings 
at  Fort  Leavenworth,  as  provided  in  the  organic 
act, 

In  view  of  the  fact  that  the  Secretary  of  War 
had  intimated  an  opinion  that  all  of  the  public 
buildings  at  Fort  Leavenworth  were  needed  for 
military  purposes,  and  that  the  location  of  the 
seat  of  government,  even  temporarily,  within 
the  lines  of  a  military  reservation,  where  the 
military  law  must  necessarily  prevail,  would  be 
inconvenient,  if  not  injurious  to  the  public  ser 
vice,  the  following  provision  was  adopted  in  the 
appropriation  bill  of  the  5th  of  August,  1854,  for 
the  purpose  of  enabling  the  governor  to  erect 
buildings  for  the  temporary  seat  of  government 
at  some  more  suitable  and  convenient  point  in 
the  Territory :  "  That,  in  the  event  that  the  Sec 
retary  of  War  shall  deem  it  inconsistent  with  the 
interest  of  the  military  service  to  furnish  a  suffi 
cient  portion  of  the  military  buildings  at  Fort 
Leavenworth  for  the  use  of  the  Territorial  gov 
ernment  of  Kansas,  the  sum  of  twenty -five  thou 
sand  dollars  shall  be,  and  in  that  contingency  is 
hereby,  appropriated,  for  the  erection  of  public 
buildings  for  the  use  of  the  legislature  of  the 
Territory  of  Kansas,  to  be  expended  under  the 
direction  of  the  governor  of  said  Territory." 

Under  this  provision,  taken  in  connection 
with  that  clause  of  the  organic  act  which  au 
thorized  the  governor  to  convene  the  legislature 
at  such  place  as  he  should  appoint,  he  would 
have  had  the  right  to  establish  the  temporary 
Beat  of  government  and  erect  the  public  build 
ings  at  Pawnee  City;  or  any  other  place  he 
might  have  selected  in  the  Territory,  instead 


of  Fort  Leavenworth,  but  'for  the  fact  that  on 
the  3d  of  March,  1855,  and  before  any  portion 
of  the  money  hud  been  expended,  or  even  the 
site  selected,  Congress  made  a  further  appro 
priation  of  twenty  five  thousand  dollars  for  pub 
lic  buildings,  with  the  proviso  "  that  said  mon 
ey,  or  any  part  thereof,  or  any  portion  of  the 
money  heretofore  appropriated  for  this  purpose 
shall  not  be  expended  until  the  legislature  of 
said  Territory  shall  have  fixed  by  law  the  per 
manent  seat  of  government."  This  provision 
did  not  confer  upon  the  legislature  any  power 
in  respect  to  the  location  of  the  seat  of  govern 
ment,  either  temporarily  or  permanently,  which 
it  did  not  previously  possess ;  for  the  general 
grant,  extending  to  all  "  rightful  subjects  of 
legislation,"  necessarily  included  the  right  to 
determine  the  place  of  holding  its  sessions. 
The  object,  as  well  as  legal  effect,  of  this  provi 
sion,  was,  to  restrain  the  governor  from  expend 
ing  the  appropriation  until  the  voice  ot  the 
people  of  Kansas  should  be  expressed,  through 
their  legislature,  in  the  selection  of  the  place ; 
leaving  the  governor  to  perform  his  whole 
duty  under  the  22d  section  of  the  organic  act, 
by  appointing  the  place  and  day  of  the  first 
meeting  of  the  legislature,  and  of  expending 
the  money  appropriated  by  Congress  for  the 
erection  of  public  buildings,  at  such  place  as 
the  legislature  should  designate  for  the  perma 
nent  seat  of  government  of  the  Territory. 

Under  this  view  of  the  subject,  it  is  evident 
that  the  legislature  was  clothed  with  legitimate 
authority  to  enact  the  law  in  obedience  to  which 
its  session  was  adjourned  from  Pawnee  City  to 
Shawnee  Mission  ;  and  that  its  enactments,  made 
at  the  latter  place,  must  have  the  same  force  and 
validity  that  they  would  have  possessed  had  not 
the  removal  taken  place. 

Those  who  seek  to  find  some  tenable  ground 
upon  which  to  destroy  the  validity  of  the  legisla 
tive  acts  of  Kansas,  seeing  that  they  cannot 
safely  rely  upon  the  alleged  irregularity  of  the 
elections,  nor  upon  the  absence  of  legal  authori 
ty  in  the  legislature  to  remove  the  seat  of  Gov 
ernment,  flatter  themselves  that  they  have  re 
cently  discovered  a  new  fact  which  will  extricate 
them  from  their  difficulty,  and  enable  them  to 
accomplish  their  purpose.  It  is,  that  by  the 
treaties  of  November  7,  1825,  and  of  August  8, 
1831,  with  the  Shawnees  of  Missouri  and  Ohio, 
a  large  tract  of  land,  including  the  Shawnee 
Mission,  where  the  legislature  held  its  session, 
and  the  governor  established  the  executive  of 
fices,  was  secured  to  those  Indians,  with  the 
guaranty  on  the  part  of  the  United  States  "  that 
said  lands  shall  never  be  within  the  bounds  of 
any  State  or  Territory,  nor  subject  to  the  laws 
thereof;"  and  that  the  19th  section  of  the  Kan 
sas-Nebraska  act  provides  that  "  nothing  in  this 
act  contained  shall  be  construed  to  include  any 
territory  which,  by  treaty  with  any  Indian  tribe, 
is  not,  without  the  consent  of  said  tribe,  to  be 
included  within  the  territorial  limits  or  jurisdic 
tion  of  any  State  or  Territory  ;  but  all  such  ter 
ritory  shall  be  excepted  out  of  the  boundaries, 
and  constitute  no  part  of  the  Territory  of  Kan- 
sas>"  Upon  the  authority  of  these  clauses  of 
the  treaties,  and  of  the  act  of  Congress  organ 
izing  the  Territory,  it  is  assumed  that  the 
Shawnee  Mission,  where  the  legislature  enacted 
those  laws,  was  not  within  the  limits  or  jurisdic 
tion  of  the  Territory  of  Kansas,  and  hence  they 
were  null  and  void.  Without  admitting,  even 
by  implication,  that  the  place  where  the  legis 
lature  should  enact  its  laws  would  to  any  ex 
tent  impair  their  validity,  it  is  proper  to  call 
the  attention  of  the  Senate  to  the  fact  recorded 
on  its  journal,  that  on  the  10th  of  May,  1854, 
(only  a  few  days  before  the  passage  of  the  Kan 
sas-Nebraska  act,)  a  treaty  was  made  with 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  SLAVERY  RESTRICTION. 


these  same  Indians,  by  the  first  article  of  which 
all  the  lands  granted  to  them  by  the  said  trea 
ties  of  1825  and  1831  were  ceded  to  the  United 
States,  and,  being  thus  exempted  from  the  ope 
ration  of  the  guaranties  in  those  treaties,  were, 
by  the  terms  of  the  organic  act  of  Kansas,  in 
cluded  within  the  limits,  and  rendered  subject 
to  the  jurisdiction  of  said  Territory. 

The  second  article  granted  the  house  in 
which  the  legislature  afterwards  held  its  ses 
sions,  and  the  land  upon  which  the  house  stood, 
to  the  missionary  society  of  the  Methodist  Epis 
copal  Church  South,  in  these  words  :  "  Of  the 
lands  Iving  east  of  the  parallel  line  aforesaid, 
there  shall  first  be  set  apart  to  the  missionary 
society  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
South,  to  include  the  improvements  of  the  In 
dian  Manual-labor  School,  three  sections  of  land  ; 
to  the  Friends'  Shawnee  Labor-school,  including 
the  improvements  there,  three  hundred  and 
twenty  acres  of  land ;  and  to  the  American 
Baptist  Union,  to  include  the  improvements 
where  the  superintendent  of  the  school  now  re 
sides,  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land  ;  and 
also  five  acres  of  land  to  the  Shawnee  Methodist 
Church,  including  the  meeting-house  and  grave- 

Erd  ;  and  two  acres  of  land  to  the  Shawnee 
iptist  Church,  including  the  meeting-house 
and  grave-yard." 

The  other  articles  of  the  treaty  provide  for 
the  survey  of  those  lands,  and  for  granting  two 
hundred  acres  to  each  Shawnee  Indian,  to  be 
held  as  private  property,  subject  to  such  condi 
tions  as  Congress  should  impose,  and  recognize 
the  right  of  the  legislature  to  lay  out  roads  and 
public  highways  across  the  Indian  lands,  on  the 
same  terms  as  the  law  provides  for  their  loca 
tion  through  the  lands  of  citizens  of  the  United 
States.  The  Rev.  Thomas  Johnson,  who  was 
president  of  the  Kansas  legislative  council,  and 
also  agent  of  the  Missionary  society  of  the  Me 
thodist  Episcopal  Church,  to  which  the  lands  and 
improvements  belonged,  authorized  the  legis 
lature  to  use  and  occupy  such  portions  of  the 
buildings  of  which  he  held  the  lawful  posses 
sion  as  they  should  find  convenient  in  the  exer 
cise  of  their  legislative  functions. 

Upon  a  caretul  review  and  examination  of 
all  the  facts,  laws,  and  treaties,  bearing  upon 
the  point,  your  committee  are  clearly  of  the 
opinion  that  the  Shawnee  Manual-labor  School 
was  a  place  to  which  the  legislature  might 
lawfully  adjourn  and  enact  valid  laws  in  pursu 
ance  of  the  organic  act  of  the  Territory. 

We  do  not  deem  it  necessary  to  inquire  into 
the  expediency  of  the  removal  of  the  seat  of 
government,  for  the  reason  that  it  cannot  affect 
the  validity  of  the  legislative  proceedings.  It 
is  sufficient  to  state,  that  the  reasons  assigned 
by  the  Governor  against  the  expediency  ot  the 
measure  were :  first,  "  the  loss  of  time  (more 
valuable  because  limited)  which  our  organic 
law  allots  to  the  legislative  session ;"  and  se 
condly,  "  because  it  will  involve  a  pecuniary 
loss,  in  view  of  the  arrangements  which  have 
t»een  made  at  this  place  for  our  accommoda 
tion."  As  an  offset  to  the  unfortunate  circum 
stance  that  the  people  of  Kansas  would  be  de 
prived,  for  the  period  of  ten  days,  of  all  the 
advantages  and  protection  which  were  expect 
ed  to  result  from  the  wholesome  laws  which 
the  governor  had  recommended  them  to  enact 
upon  all  rightful  subjects  of  legislation,  and  to 
the  pecuniary  loss  which  would  be  sustained  in 
consequence  of  the  removal  from  Pawnee  City, 
the  members  of  the  legislature,  in  their  memo 
rial  to  the  President  of  the  United  States,  asking 
him  to  remove  the  governor,  state  their  reasons 
as  follows,  for  the  allegation  that  there  was  an 
unnecessary  loss  of  three  months'  time  after 
the  election  hi  convening  the  legislature,  and 


that  Pawnee  was  not  a  suitable  place  for  them 
to  meet : 

"  After  the  contest  was  over,  and  the  result 
known,  he  delayed  the  assembling  of  the  body 
until  the  2d  day  of  July — more  than  three 
months  afterwards — and  that,  too,  when  the 
whole  Union  was  convulsed  on  account  of  al 
leged  outrages  in  Kansas  Territory,  and  yet  no 
law  for  the  punishment  or  prevention  of  them. 
When  at  last  they  did  meet,  upon  the  call  of 
the  governor,  at  a  point  where  they  had  pre 
viously,  in  an  informal  manner,  protested 
against  being  called,  with  an  avowal  of  their 
intention  to  adjourn  to  the  point  at  which  they 
are  now  assembled,  for  the  reasons  that  the  re 
quisite  accommodations  could  not  be  had  ;  where 
there  were  no  facilities  for  communication 
with  their  families  or  constituents  ;  where  they 
could  not  even  find  the  commonest  food  to  eat, 
unless  at  an  enormous  expense,  there  being  no 
gardens  yet  made  by  the  squatters  ;  where  the 
house  in  which  we  were  expected  to  assemble 
had  no  roof  or  floor  on  the  Saturday  preceding 
the  Monday  of  our  assembling,  and  for  the 
completion  of  which  the  entire  Sabbath  day  and 
night  was  desecrated  by  the  continual  labor  of 
the  mechanics  ;  where,  at  least,  one-half  of  the 
members,  employe's,  and  almost  all  others  who 
had  assembled  there  for  business  or  otherwise, 
had  to  camp  out  in  wagons  and  tents  during  a 
rainy,  hot  season,  and  where  cholera  broke  out, 
as  a  consequence  of  the  inadequate  food  and 
shelter ;  and  when,  under  all  of  these  circum 
stances  of  annoyance,  they  finally  passed  an  act 
adjourning  to  this  point — Shawnee  Manual-la 
bor  School — where  ample  accommodations  are 
provided,  and  where  the  governor  himself  had 
previously  made  it  the  seat  of  government,  they 
were  met  by  his  veto,  which  is  herewith  trans 
mitted." 

Your  committee  have  not  considered  it  any 
part  of  their  duty  to  examine  and  review  each 
enactment  and  provision  of  the  large  volume  of 
laws  adopted  by  the  legislature  of  Kansas  upon 
almost  every  rightful  subject  of  legislation,  and 
affecting  nearly  every  relation  and  interest  in 
life,  with  a  view  either  to  their  approval  or  dis 
approval  by  Congress,  for  the  reason  that  they 
are  local  laws,  confined  in  their  operation  to  the 
internal  concerns  of  the  Territory,  the  control 
and  management  of  which,  by  the  principles  of 
the  Federal  Constitution,  as  well  as  by  the  very 
terms  of  the  Kansas-Nebraska  act,  are  confided 
to  the  people  of  the  Territory,  to  be  determined 
by  themselves  through  their  representatives  in 
their  local  legislature,  and  not  by  the  Congress, 
in  which  the^  have  no  representatives  to  give  or 
withhold  their  assent  to  the  laws  upon  which 
their  rights  and  liberties  may  all  depend.  Under 
these  laws  marriages  have  taken  place,  children 
have  been  born,  deaths  have  occurred,  estates 
have  been  distributed,  contracts  have  been  made, 
and  rights  have  accrued  which  it  is  not  compe 
tent  for  Congress  to  divest.  If  there  can  be  a 
doubt  in  respect  to  the  validity  of  these  laws, 
growing  out  of  the  alleged  irregularity  of  the 
election  of  the  members  of  the  legislature,  or  the 
lawfulness  of  the  place  where  its  sessions  were 
held,  which  it  is  competent  for  tmy  tribunal  to 
inquire  into  with  a  view  to  its  decision  at  this 
day,  and  after  the  series  of  events  which  have 
ensued,  it  must  be  a  judicial  question,  over  which 
Congress  can  have  no  control,  and  which  can  be 
determined  only  by  the  courts  of  justice,  under 
the  protection  and  sanction  of  the  Constitution. 

When  it  was  proposed  in  the  last  Congress  to 
annul  the  acts  of  the  legislative  assembly  of  Min 
nesota,  incorporating  certain  railroad  companies, 
this  committee  reported  against  the  proposition, 
and,  instead  of  annulling  the  local  legislation  of 
the  Territory,  recommended  the  repeal  of  that 


THE  KANSAS-NEBRASKA   STRUGGLE. 


103 


clause  of  the  organic  act  of  Minnesota  which 
reserves  to  Congress  the  right  to  disapprove  its 
laws.  That  recommendation  was  based  on  the 
theory  that  the  people  of  the  Territory,  being 
citizens  of  the  United  States,  were  entitled  to 
the  privilege  of  self-government  in  obedience 
to  tne  Constitution ;  and  if,  in  the  exercise  of 
this  right,  they  had  made  wise  and  just  laws, 
they  ought  to  be  permitted  to  enjoy  all  the  ad 
vantages  resulting  from  them  ;  while,  on  the 
contrary,  if  they  had  made  unwise  and  unjust 
laws,  they  should  abide  the  consequences  of 
their  own  acts  until  they  discovered,  acknow 
ledged,  and  corrected  their  errors. 

It  has  been  alleged  that  gross  misrepresenta 
tions  have  been  made  in  respect  to  the  charac 
ter  of  the  laws  enacted  by  the  legislature  of 
Kansas,  calculated,  if  not  designed,  to  preju 
dice  the  public  mind  at  a  distance  against  those 
who  enacted  them,  and  to  create  the  impres 
sion  that  it  was  the  duty  of  Congress  to  inter 
fere  and  annul  them.  In  view  of  the  violent 
and  insurrectionary  measures  which  were  being 
taken  to  resist  the  laws  of  the  Territory,  a  con 
vention  of  delegates,  representing  almost  every 
portion  of  the  Territory  of  Kansas,  wae  held  at 
the  city  of  Leavenworth  on  the  14th  of  Novem 
ber,  1855,  at  which  men  of  all  shades  of  political 
opinions,  "  Whigs,  Democrats,  Pro-slavery 
men,  and  Free-state  men,  all  met  and  harmo 
nized  together,  and  forgot  their  former  differ 
ences  in  the  common  danger  that  seemed  to 
threaten  the  peace,  good  order,  and  prosperity 
of  this  community."  This  convention  was  pre 
sided  over  by  the  governor  of  the  Territory,  as 
sisted  by  a  majority  of  the  judges  of  the  su 
preme  court ;  and  the  address  to  the  citizens  of 
the  United  States,  among  other  distinguished 
names,  bears  the  signatures  of  the  United 
States  district  attorney  and  marshal  for  the 
Territory. 

It  is  but  reasonable  to  assume  that  the  inter 
pretation  which  these  functionaries  have  given 
to  the  acts  of  the  Kansas  legislature  in  this  ad 
dress  will  be  observed  in  their  official  exposi 
tion  and  execution  of  the  same.  In  reference 
to  the  wide-spread  perversions  and  misrepre 
sentations  of  those  laws,  this  address  says  : 

"  The  laws  passed  by  the  legislature  have  been  most 
grossly  misrepresented,  with  the  view  of  prejudicing 
the  public  against  that  body,  and  as  an  excuse  for  the 
revolutionary  movements  in  this  Territory.  The 
limits  of  ttiis  address  will  not  permit  a  correction  of 
all  these  misrepresentations;  but  we  will  notice  s  >meof 
them,  that  have  had  the  most  wide-spread  circulation. 

"  It  has  been  charged  and  widely  circulated  that  the 
legislature,  in  order  to  perpetuate  their  rule,  had  pass 
ed  a  law  prescribing  the  qualification  of  voters,  by 
which  it  is  Declared  '  that  any  one  may  vote  who  will 
swear  allegiance  to  the  fugitive-slave  law.  the  Kansas 
and  Nebraska  bill,  and  pay  one  dollar  '  Such  is  de 
clared  to  be  the  evidence  of  citizenship,  such  the 
qualification  of  voters.  In  reply  to  this,  we  say  that 
no  such  law  was  ever  pnssed  by  the  legislature.  The  ! 
law  prescribing  the  qualification  of  voters  expressly  j 
provides  that,  to  entitle  a  person  to  vote,  he  must  be 
twenty-one  years  of  age,  an  actual  inhabitant  of  this 
Territory,  and  of  the  county  or  district  in  which  he 
o&'ers  to  vote,  and  shall  have  paid  a  territorial  tax. 
There  is  no  law  requiring  him  to  pay  a  dollar-tax  as 
a  qualification  to  vote.  lie  must  pay  a  tax  it  is  true, 
[and  this  is  by  no  means  an  unusual  requirement  in 
the  States  ;]  but  whether  this  tax  is  levied  on  his  per 
sonal  or  real  property,  his  money  at  interest,  or  is  a 
poll-tax.  m«kes  no  d  fference ;  the  payment  of  any 
territorial  tax  entitles  the  person  to  vote,  provided 
he  has  the  other  qualifications  provided  by  law.  The 
act  seems  to  be  carefully  drawn  with  the  view  of  ex 
cluding  all  illegal  and  foreign  votes.  The  voter  must 
be  an  inhabitant  of  the  Territory,  and  of  the  county 
or  district  in  which  he  offers  to  vote,  and  he  must 
have  paid  a  territorial  tax.  The  judges  and  clerks 
are  required  to  be  sworn,  and  to  keep  duplicate  poll- 
Doxes ;  aud  ample  provision  is  made  for  contesting 
elections,  and  purging  the  polls  of  all  illegal  votes. 


It  is  difficult  to  see  how  a  more  guarded  law  could  be 
framed,  for  the  purpose  of  protecting  the  purity  of 
elections  and  the  sanctity  of  the  ballot-box.  The 
law  does  not  require  the  voter  to  swear  to  support 
the  fugitive-slave  law,  or  the  Kansas  and  Nebraska 
bill,  unless  he  is  challenged;  in  that  case,  he  is  re 
quired  to  take  an  oath  to  support  each  of  these  law*. 
As  to  the  dollar  law,  [so  called.]  it  is  merely  a  poll- 
tax,  and  has  no  more  connection  with  the  right  of 
suffrage  than  any  other  tax  levied  by  the  territorial 
authority,  and  is  to  be  paid  whether  the  party  votes 
or  not.  It  is  a  mere  temporary  measure,  having  no 
force  beyond  this  year,  and  was  resorted  to  as  such 
to  supply  the  territorial  treasury  with  the  necessary 
means  to  carry  on  the  government. 

"  It  has  also  been  charged  against  the  legislature  that 
they  elected  all  of  the  officers  of  the  Territory  for  six 
years.  This  is  without  any  foundation.  They  elected 
no  officer  for  six  years;  and  the  only  civil  officers 
they  retain  the  election  of,  that  occurs  to  us  at  pres 
ent,  are  the  auditor  and  treasurer  of  state,  and  the 
district  attorneys,  who  hold  their  offices  for  four,  and 
not  six  years.  By  the  organic  act,  the  ci  mmis>ions 
issued  by  the  governor  to  the  civil  officers  of  ihe  Ter 
ritory  all  expired  on  the  adjournment  of  the  legisla- 
lature.  To  prevent  a  failure  in  the  local  administra 
tion,  and  from  necessity,  the  legislature  made  a  num 
ber  of  temporary  appointments,  such  as  probate 
judge,  and  two  county  commissioners,  and  a  sheriff  of 
each  county.  The  probate  judge  and  county  commis 
sioners  constitute  the  tribunal  for  the  transaction  of 
county  business,  and  are  invested  with  the  power  to 
appoint  justices  of  the  peace,  constables,  county  sur 
veyor,  recorder,  and  clerk,  etc.  Probate  judges,  coun 
ty  commissioners,  sheriffs,  etc.,  are  all  temporary  ap 
pointments,  and  are  made  elective  by  the  people  at 
the  first  annual  election  in  1857.  The  legislature  could 
not  have  avoided  making  some  temporary  appoint 
ments.  No  election  could  have  been  held  without 
them.  There  were  no  judges,  justices  of  the  peace,  or 
other  officers  to  conduct  an  election  of  any  kind,  un 
til  appointed  by  the  legislature.  It  was  the  exercise 
of  a  power  which  the  first  legislative  assembly  in  every 
Territory  must,  of  necessity,  exercise,  in  order  to  put 
ihe  local  government  in  motion.  We  see  nothing  in 
this  to  justify  revolution  or  a  resort  to  force.  The 
law  for  the  protection  of  slave  property  has  also  been 
much  misunderstood.  The  right  to  pass  such  a  law  ia 
expressly  stated  by  Governor  Keederin  his  inaugural 
message,  in  which  he  says :  '  A  territorial  legislature 
may  undoubtedly  act  upon  the  question  to  H  limited 
and  partial  extent,  and  may  temporarily  prohibit,  tol 
erate  or  regulate  slavery  in  the  Territory,  and  in  an 
absolute  or  modified  form,  with  all  the  force  and  ef- 
lect  of  any  other  legislative  act,  binding  until  repeal 
ed  by  the  same  power  that  enacted  it.'  There  in  noth 
ing  in  the  act  itself,  as  has  been  charged,  to  prevent 
a  free  discussion  of  the  subject  of  slavery.  Its  bear 
ing  on  society,  its  morality  or  expediency,  or  whether 
it  would  be  politic  or  impolitic  to  make  this  a  slave 
^tate,  can  be  discussed  here  as  freely  as  in  any  State 
in  this  Union,  without  infringing  any  of  the  provis 
ions  of  the  law.  To  deny  the  right  of  a  person  to  hold 
slaves  under  the  law  in  this  Territory  is  made  penal; 
but  beyond  this,  there  is  no  restriction  to  the  discus 
sion  of  the  Slavery  question,  in  any  aspect  in  which 
it  is  capable  of  being  considered.  We  do  not  wish  to 
be  understood  as  approving  of  all  the  laws  passed  by 
the  legislature  ;  on  the  contrary,  we  would  state  that 
there  are  some  that  we  do  not  approve  of.  and  which 
are  cond.  mned  by  public  opinion  here,  and  which  will, 
no  doubt,  be  repealed  or  modified  at  the  meeting  of  the 
next  legislature.  But  this  is  nothing  more  than  what 
frequently  occurs,  both  in  the  legislation  of  Congress 
and  of  the  various  State  legislatures.  The  remedy 
for  such  evils  is  to  be  found  in  public  or.inion,  to 
which,  sooner  or  later,  in  a  government  like  ours,  all 
laws  must  conform." 

A  few  days  after  Governor  Reeder  dissolved 
his  official  relations  with  the  legislature,  on  ac 
count  of  the  removal  of  the  seat  of  government, 
and  while  that  body  was  still  in  session,  a  meet 
ing  was  called  by  "  many  voters,"  to  assemble 
at  Lawrence  on  the  14th  or  15th  of  August,  1855, 
"  to  take  into  consideration  the  propriety  of 
calling  a  Territorial  convention,  preliminary  to 
the  formation  of  a  State  government,  and  other 
subjects  of  public  interest."  At  that  meeting 
the  following  preamble  and  resolutions  were 
adopted  with  but  one  dissenting  voice  : 


104 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  SLAVERY  RESTRICTION. 


"  Whereas  the  people  of  Kansas  Territory  have  I  was  taken  on  the  person  of  one  George  F.  War- 
been  since  its  settlement,  and  nowaie,  without  any  ren,  who  attempted  to  conceal  and  destroy  the 
law-making  power:  therefore,  same  by  thrusting  it  into  his  mouth,  and  biting 

"  Be  it  revived.  That  we,  the  people  of  Kansas  Tei  -  and  chewing  {t  Although  somewhat  mutilated 
ritory.  in  mass  meeting  assembled,  irrespective  of  par-  fe  he  <t  fc  tfa  mt  „  u  |  a  internal  evidence 
ty  distinctions,  influenced  by  a  common  necessity,  ana  J,  .  A  ,,,.,,, 

hereby 

Kansas  Te 

lections,  to  con.-ult  tog 

districts,  and  in  mass  convention  or  otherwise,  elect 


, 

three  delegates  for  each  representative  of  the  legisla 
tive  assemblv,  by  proclamation  of  Governor  Reeder 
of  date  10th  March,  1855;  said  delegates  to  assemble 
in  conven'ion  at  the  town  of  Topeka,  on  the  19th  day 
of  September,  IP £5,  then  and  there  to  consider  and  de 
termine  upon  all  subjects  of  public  interest,  and  par 
ticularly  upon  that  having  reference  to  the  speedy 
formation  nf  a  trtate  constitution,  with  an  intention 
of  an  immediate  application  to  be  admitted  as  a  State 
into  the  Union  of  the  United  States  of  America." 

This  meeting,  so  far  as  your  committee  have 
been  able  to  ascertain  was  the  first  step  in  that 
series  of  proceedings  which  resulted  in  the 
adoption  of  a  constitution  and  State  govern 
ment,  to  be  put  in  operation  on  the  4th  of  the 


ol  tne  ivansas  legion,  authorizing  the  said 
George  F.  Warren,  from  whose  mouth  the  docu 
ment  was  taken,  to  form  a  new  regiment,  as 
follows : 

"  Charter  of  the  Kansas  Legion. 
"UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA,  £ 
Territory  of  Kansas.  $ 

"Know  all  men  by  these  presents,  that  TVB,  the 
Gratid  Encampment  of  the  Kansas  Legion  of  Kansas 
Territory,  have  created,  chartered,  and  empowered, 
and  by  these  presents  do  create,  charter,  and  empower 
George  D\  Warren  to  be  regiment 

,  No. ,  of  the  Kansas  Legion  ;   and,  aw  such, 

they  are  hereby  invested  with  all  and  singular  the 
authority  and  privileges  with  which  each  aud  every 


present  month,  in  subversion  of  the  Territorial  |  regiment  is  invested,  working  under  a  charter  from 
vernment  established  under  the  authority  of  I  the  Grand  Encampmer* 


Congress,  The  right  to  set  up  the  State  gov 
eminent  in  defiance  of  the  constituted  authori 
ties  of  the  Territory,  is  based  on  the  assumption 
"  that  the  people  of  Kansas  Territory  have  oeen 
since  its  settlement,  and  now  are,  without  any 
law-  making  power ;"  in  the  face  of  the  well- 
kuo^rn  fact,  that  the  Territorial  legislature 
were  then  in  session,  in  pursuance  of  the  procla 
mation  of  Governor  Reeder,  and  the  organic  law 


In  witness  whereof,  we  have  hereunto  set  our 
hands,  this  sixteenth  d*y  of  August,  one  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  fifty-five. 

"G.  W.  HUTCHINSON, 

Grand  General. 
"J.  K.  GOODWIN, 

Grand  Quartermaster" 

The  constitution  consists  of  six  articles,  regu- 


of  the  Territor 
1  Territori 


governor  Keecler,  ana  tne  organic  law  j  lating  tne  organization  of  the  "  Grand  Encamp- 
rritory.  On  the  5th  of  September,  a  !  ment  »  which  is  "  composed  of  representatives 
ml  delegate  convention"  assembled  at  i  elected  from  each  subordinate  regiment  existing 


adopted :  |  Quartermaster,  Grand  Paymaster,  Grand  Aid, 

"Resolved,  That  this  Convention,  in  view  of  its     two  Grand  Sentinels,  and  Grand  Chaplain, 
recent  repudiation  of  the  acts  of  the  so-called  Kansas         ..  The  Grand  Encampment  shall  make  all  nomina- 
legislatiye  assembly,  respond  most  heartily  to  the     tions  for  Territorial  officers  at  large,  and  immediately 


call  made  by  the  people's  convention  of  the  14th 
ultimo,  for  a  delegate  convention  of  the  people  of 
Kansas,  to  be  held  at  Topeka,  on  the  19th  instant,  to 
consider  the  propriety  of  the  formation  of  a  State 
Constitution,  and  such  matters  as  may  legitimately 
come  before  it. 

"  Resolved,  That  we  owe  no  allegiance  or  obedience 
to  the  tyrannical  enactments  of  this  spurious  legis 
lature  ;  that  their  laws  have  no  validity  or  binding 
force  upon  the  people  of  Kansas9;  and  that  every  free 
man  among  us  is  at  full  liberty,  consistently  with  his 
obligations  as  a  citizen  and  a  man,  to  defy  and  resist 
them  if  he  choose  so  to  do. 

"Resolved,  That  we  will  endure  and  submit  to  these 
laws  no  logger  than  the  best  interests  of  the  Territory 
require  as  the  It  ast  of  two  evils,  and  will  resist  theoi 
to  a  bloody  issue  as  soon  as  we  ascertain  that  peace 
able  remedies  shall  fail,  and  forcible  resistance  shall 
furnish  any  reasonable  prospect  of  success  ;  and  that 


in  the    rm 


3omm»>nd    to    our    friends 


througout  the  Territory,  the  organization  and  disci 
pline  of  volunteer  companies,  and  the  procurement 
and  preparation  of  arms." 

With  the  view  to  a  distinct  understanding  of 
the  meaning  of  so  much  of  this  resolution  as 
relates  to  the  "  organization  and  discipline  of 
volunteer  companies,  and  the  procurement  and 
preparation  of  arms,"  it  may  be  necessary  to 
state,  that  there  was  at  that  time  existing  in  the 
Territory  a  secret  military  organization,  which 
had  been  formed  for  political  objects  prior  to 
the  alleged  invasion,  at  the  election  on  the  30th 
of  March,  and  which  held  its  first  "  Grand  En 
campment  at  Lawrence,  February  8th,  1855." 
Your  Committee  have  been  put  in  possession  of 
a  small  printed  pamphlet,  containing  the  "  con 
stitution  and  ritual  of  the  grand  encampment 
and  regiments  of  the  Kansas  legion  of  Kansas 
Territory,  adopted  April  4th,  1855,"  which,  dur 
ing  the  recent  disturbances  in  that  Territory, 


after  such  nominations  shall  have  been  made,  the 
Grand  General  .shall  communicate  the  result  to  evoiy 
regiment  in  the  Territory." 


The  officers  of  the  "GRAND  ENCAMPMENT" 
are,  Grand  General  Rev.  G.  W.  Hutchinson, 
Lawrence,  K.  T. 

^  Grand  Vice-General,  C.  K.  Holliday,  Topeka, 
K.  T. 

Grand  Quartermaster,  J.  K.  Goodwin,  Law 
rence,  K.  T. 

Grand  Paymaster,  Charles  Leib,  M.  D.,  Lea- 
venworth  city,  K.  T. 

By  "the  constitution  of  the  subordinate  en 
campment,"  "  the  officers  of  each  subordinate 
regiment  shall  consist  of  a  colonel,  a  lieutenant- 
colonel,  a  quartermaster,  aid,  and  two  sentinels. 
The  regiment  located  in  each  and  every  election 
district,  shall  make  nominations  for  all  candi 
dates  for  offices  in  th^ir  respective  districts ; 
but  where  there  shall  be  two  or  more  regiments 
in  any  one  election  district,  of  whatever  kind, 
these  nominations  shall  be  made  by  delegates 
from  the  respective  encampments  within  said 
district." 

The  "ritual'1  continues  the  order  of  business 
and  modes  of  proceeding  in  the  subordinate 
encampment,  under  the  following  heads : 

1st.  Reading  the  minutes  by  the  quarter 
master. 

2d.  Proposals  for  new  recruits. 

3d.  Voting  for  same. 

4th.  Initiation  of  recruits. 

5th.  Renorts  of  committees. 

6th.  Unfinished  business  appearing  on  the 
minutes. 

7th.  Miscellaneous  business. 

8th.  Adjournment. 


THE  KANSAS-NEBRASKA  STRUGGLE. 


105 


The  "opening  ceremony"  of  the  subordinate 
encampments  is  as  follows  : 

"  The  colonel,  lieutenant-colonel,  quartermaster, 
paymaster,  aid,  and  sentinels,  being  in  their  respec 
tive  places  the  regiment  shall  be  called  and  thus 
addressed  by  the  colonel : 

"Colonel.  Fellow-soldiers  in  the  Free-State  army : 
The  hour  has  arrived  when  we  must  resume  the  duties 
devolving  upon  us.  Let  us  each,  with  a  heart  de 
voted  to  justice,  patriotism,  and  liberty,  attend  close 
ly  to  all  the  regulations  laid  down  for  our  govern 
ment  and  action  ;  each  laboring  to  make  this  review 
pleasant  and  profitable  to  ourselves,  and  a  blessing  to 
our  country.  Aid,  are  the  sentinels  at  their  post,  with 
closed  doors  ? 

"  Aid.    They  are. 

"  Colonel.  Aid,  you  will  now  review  the  troops  in 
the  regiment's  pass-words. 

"Aid.  (Alter  examination.)  I  have  examined 
them  personally,  and  find  each  correct. 

"  Colonel.  I  pronounce  this  regiment  arrayed  and 
ready  for  service." 

Then  follows  the  process  of  initiating  new  re 
cruits,  who  are  properly  vouched  for  by  mem 
bers  of  the  order,  the  preliminary  obligations  to 
observe  secrecy,  the  catechism  to  which  the 
candidate  is  subjected,  and  the  explanations  of 
the  colonel  in  respect  to  the  objects  of  the  order, 
which  are  thus  stated: 

"  First,  to  secure  to  Kansas  the  blessing  and  pros 
perity  of  being  a  free  State  ;  and,  secondly,  to  protect 
the  ballot-box  from  the  LEPROUS  TOUCH  OF  UNPRINCI 
PLED  MEN." 

These  and  all  other  questions  being  satisfac 
torily  answered,  the  final  oath  is  thus  adminis 
tered  : 

"With  these  explanations  upon  our  part,  we  shall 
ask  of  you  that  you  take  with  us  an  obligation  placing 
yourself  in  the  same  attitude  as  before. 

"  OBLIGATION. 

"  I, ,  in  the  most  solemn  manner,  here 

in  the  presence  of  Heaven  and  these  witnesses,  bind 
myself  that  I  will  never  reveal,  nor  cause  to  be  re 
vealed,  either  by  word,  look,  or  sign,  by  writing,  print- 
Ing,  engraving,  painting,  or  in  any  manner  whatso 
ever,  am  thing  peitainiug  to  this  institution,  save  to 
persons  duly  qualified  to  receive  the  same.  I  will 
never  reveal  the  nature  of  the  organization,  the 
place  of  meeting,  the  fact  that  any  person  is  a  mem 
ber  of  the  same,  or  even  the  existence  of  the  organi 
zation,  except  to  persons  legally  qualified  to  receive 
the  same.  Should  I  at  any  time  withdraw,  or  be  sus 
pended  or  expelled  from  this  organization,  I  will  keep 
this  obligation  to  the  end  of  life.  If  any  books,  pa 
pers,  or  moneys  belonging  to  this  organization  be  in 
trusted  to  my  care  or  keeping,  I  will  faithfully  and 
completely  deliver  up  the  same  to  my  successor  in 
office,  or  any  one  legally  authorized  10  receive  them. 
I  will  never  knowingly  propose  a  person  for  member 
ship  in  this  order  who  is  not  in  favor  of  making 
Kansas  a  free  State,  and  whom  I  feel  satisfied  will 
exert  his  entire  influence  to  bring  about  this  result. 
I  will  support,  maintain,  and  abide  by  any  honorable 
movement  ma<le  by  the  organization  to  secure  this 
great  end,  wl  ich  will  not  conflict  with  the  laws  of 
the  country  and  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States. 
I  will  unflinchingly  vote  for  and  support  the  candidates 
nominated  by  this  organization  in  preference  to  any 
and  all  others. 

"  To  all  of  this  obligation  I  do  most  solemnly  pro 
mise  and  affirm,  binding  myself  under  the  penalty  of 
heing  expelled  from  this  organization,  of  having  my 
name  published  to  the  several  Territorial  encamp 
ments  as  a  perjurer  before  Heaven,  and  a  traitor  to 
my  country,  of  passing  through  life  scorned  and  re 
viled  by  man,  frowned  on  by  devils,  forsaken  by 
angels,  and  abandoned  by  God.'" 

The  "  closing  ceremony"  is  as  follows  : 
"  Colonel.  Fellow-soldiers :  I  trust  this  review  has 
been  both  pleasant  and  profitable  to  all.  We  met  as 
friends  ;  let  us  part  as  brothers,  remembering  that  we 
geek  no  wrong  to  any ;  and  our  bond  of  union  in 
battling  for  the  right  must  tend  to  make  us  better 
men.  better  neighbors,  and  better  citizens.  We  thank 
you  for  your  kindness  and  attention,  and  invite  you 
all  to  be  present  at  our  next  review,  to  be  holden  at 
,  on next,  at o'clock  P.  n.  Senti- 


nels,  you  will  open  the  doors,  that  our  soldiers  may 
retire  pleasantly  and  in  order." 

Your  committee  have  deemed  it  important  to 
give  this  outline  of  the  "  constitution  and  ritual 
of  the  grand  encampment  and  regiments  of  the 
Kansas  legion,"  as  constituting  the  secret  or 
ganization,  political  and  military,  in  obedience 
to  which  the  public  demonstrations  have  been 
made  to  subvert  the  authority  of  the  Territorial 
government  established  by  Congress,  by  setting 
up  a  State  government,  either  with  or  without 
the  assent  ot  Congress,  as  circumstances  should 
determine.  The  endorsement  of  this  military 
organization,  and  the  recommendation  by  the 
Big  Springs  convention  for  "  the  procurement 
and  preparation  of  arms,"  accompanied  with 
the  distinct  declaration  that  "  we  will  resist 
them  [the  laws  enacted  by  the  Kansas  legisla 
ture]  to  a  bloody  issue,  as  soon  as  we  ascertain 
that  peaceable  remedies  shall  fail,  and  forcible 
resistance  shall  furnish  any  reasonable  pros 
pect  of  success,"  would  seem  to  admit  of  no 
other  interpretation  than  that,  in  the  event  that 
the  courts  of  justice  shall  sustain  the  validity 
of  those  laws,  and  Congress  shall  refuse  to  ad 
mit  Kansas  as  a  State  with  the  constitution  to 
be  formed  at  Topeka,  they  will  set  up  an  inde 
pendent  government  in  defiance  of  the  federal 
authority. 

The  same  purpose  is  clearly  indicated  by  the 
other  proceedings  of  this  convention,  in  which 
it  is  declared  that  "  we  with  scorn  repudiate 
the  election-law,  so  called,"  and  nominate  Gov 
ernor  lieeder  for  Congress,  to  be  voted  for  on  a 
different  day  from  that  authorized  by  law,  at 
an  election  to  be  held  by  judges  and  clerks  not 
appointed  in  pursuance  of  any  legal  authority, 
and  not  to  be  sworn  by  any  person  authorized 
by  law  to  administer  oaths  ;  and  the  returns  to 
be  made,  and  result  proclaimed,  and  certificate 
granted,  in  a  mode  and  by  persons  not  permitted 
to  perform  these  acts  by  any  law,  in  or  out  of  the 
Territory. 

In  accepting  the  nomination,  Governor  Keeder 
addressed  the  convention  as  follows  ;  and,  among 
other  things,  said : 

•;  In  giving  him  this  nomination  in  this  manner, 
they  had  strengthened  his  arms  to  do  their  work  and, 
in  return,  he  would  now  pledge  to  them  a  steady,  un 
flinching  pertinacity  of  purpo.se,  never-tiring  industry, 
dogged  perseverance,  and,  in  all  the  abilities  with 
which  God  had  endowed  him,  to  the  righting  of  their 
wrongs,  and  the  final  triumph  of  their  cause.  He 
believed,  from  the  circumstances  which  had  for  the  last 
eight  months  surrounded  him,  and  which  had,  at  the 
same  time,  placed  in  his  possession  many  facts,  and 
bound  him,  heart  and  soul,  to  the  oppressed  voters  of 
Kansas,  that  he  could  do  much  towards  obtaining  a 
redress  of  their  grievances. 

"  He  said  that,  day  by  day  a  crisis  was  coming  upon 
us  ;  that,  in  after-times,  this  would  be  to  posterity  a 
turning-point,  a  marked  period,  as  are  to  us  the  open 
ing  of  the  Revolution,  the  adoption  of  tne  Declaration 
of  Independence,  and  the  era  of  the  alien  and  sedi 
tion  laws  ;  that  we  should  take  each  carefully,  so  that 
each  be  a  step  of  progress,  and  so  that  no  violence  be 
done  to  the  tie  which  binds  the  American  people  to 
gether.  He  alluded  to  the  unprecedented  tyranny 
under  which  we,  are  and  have  been;  and  said  that,  if 
any  one  supposed  that  institutions  were  to  be  im 
posed  by  force  upon  a  free  and  enlightened  people, 
they  never  knew,  or  had  forgotten,  the  history  of  our 
fathers.  American  citizen*1  bear  in  their  brea-ts  too 
much  of  the  spirit  of  other  and  trying  days,  and  have 
lived  too  long  amid  the  blewsings  of  liberty,  to  sub 
mit  to  oppression  from  any  quarter:  and  the  man 
who  having  once  been  free,  could  tamely  submit  to 
tyranny,  was  fit  to  be  a  Slave. 

"  He  urged  the  Free-State  men  of  Kansas  to  forget 
all  minor  issues,  and  pursue  determinedly  the  one 
great  object,  never  swerving,  but  steadily  pressing  on, 
as  did  the  wise  men  who  followed  the  star  to  the 
manger,  looking  back  only  for  fresh  encouragement. 
He  counseled  that  peaceful  resistance  be  made  to  the 
tyrannical  and  unjust  laws  of  the  spurious  legislature; 


106 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  SLAVERY  RESTRICTION. 


that  appeals  to  the  courts,  to  the  ballot  box.  and  to 
Congress,  be  made  for  relief  from  this  oppressive  load; 
that  violence  should  be  deprecated  as  lougas  a  single 
hope  of  peaceable  redress  remained  ;but  if,  at  last,  all 
these  should  fail  — if,  in  the  proper  tribunals,  there  is 
no  hope  for  our  dearest  rights,  outraged  and  profantd 
—if  we  are  still  to  suffer,  that  corrupt  men  may  zeap 
harvests  watered  by  our  tears— then  there  is  one 
more  chance  for  justice.  God  has  provided,  in  the 
eternal  frame  of  things,  redress  for  every  wrong ;  and 
there  remains  to  us  still  the  steady  eye  and  the  strong 
arm,  and  we  must  conquer,  or  mingle  the  bodies  of 
the  oppresf-ors  with  those  of  the  oppressed  upon  the 
soil  which  the  Declaration  of  Independence  no  longer 
protects.  But  he  was  not  at  all  apprehensive  that 
such  a  crisis  would  ever  arrive.  He  believed  that  jus 
tice  might  be  found  far  short  of  so  dreadful  an  ex 
tremity ;  and,  even  should  an  appeal  to  arms  come,  it 
was  his  opinion,  that  if  we  are  well  prepared,  that  mo 
ment  the  victory  is  won." 

In  pursuance  of  the  recommendation  of  the 
mass  meeting  held  at  Lawrence  on  the  14th  of 
August,  and  endorsed  by  the  convention  held  at 
the  Big  Springs  on  the  5th  and  6th  of  September, 
a  convention  was  held  at  Topeka  on  the  19th 
and  20th  of  September,  at  which  it  was  deter 
mined  to  hold  another  convention  at  the  same 
place  on  the  fourth  Tuesday  of  October,  for  the 
purpose  of  forming  a  constitution  and  State 
government;  and  to  this  end  such  proceedings 
were  had  as  were  deemed  necessary  for  giving 
the  notices,  conducting  the  election  of  dele 
gates,  making  the  returns,  and  assembling  the 
convention.  \Vith  regard  to  the  regularity  of 
these  proceedings,  your  committee  see  no  ne 
cessity  for  further  criticism  than  is  to  be  found 
in  the  fact  that  it  was  the  movement  of  a  politi 
cal  party  instead  of  the  whole  body  of  the  peo 
ple  of  Kansas,  conducted  without  the  sanction 
of  law,  and  in  defiance  of  the  constituted  au 
thorities,  for  the  avowed  purpose  of  overthrow 
ing  the  territorial  government  established  by 
Congress. 

The  constitutional  convention  met  at  Topeka 
on  the  fourth  Tuesday  of  October,  and  organized 
by  electing  Col.  J.  H.  Lane  president,  who,  in 
returning  his  acknowledgments  for  the  honor, 
repudiated  the  validity  of  the  territorial  legisla 
ture  and  its  acts  in  these  words : 

"Gentlemen  of  the  convention:  For  the  position 
assigned  me,  accept  my  thanks.  You  have  met,  gen 
tlemen,  on  no  ordinary  occasion,  to  accomplish  no 
ordinary  purpose.  You  are  the  first  legal  representa 
tives  the  real  settlers  of  Kansas  have  ever  had.  You 
comprise  the  first  legally-elected  representative  body 
ever  assembled  in  the  Territory,"  etc. 

"  Friday,  October  26.— Mr.  Smith  offered  the  fol 
lowing  resolution,  instructing  the  standing  commit 
tees  : 

"  Resolved,  That  the  various  committees  of  this 
convention  be,  and  they  are  hereby,  instructed  to 
frame  their  work,  having  in  view  an  immediate  or 
ganization  of  a  State  government." 

"  October  30.— In  the  evening  session  the  debates 
ran  high  upon  Mr.  Smith's  resolution  in  reference  to 
an  immediate  State  organization.  The  mover  of  the 
resolution  was  in  favor  of  electing  State  officers  at 
once.  He  would  advise  no  hesitation  ,  he  would  pre 
sent  a  bold  front,  and  waver  not  at  all.  The  Territory 
was  without  laws  ;  life  and  property  were  unprotected. 
The  territorial  government  had  broken  down.  He 
would  not  leave  it  an  hour  for  the  action  of  Congress 
after  an  application  for  admission,  but  would  set  up 
an  independent  form  of  government,"  etc. 

Mr.  Emery  said : 

"Now,  Mr.  Chairman,  what  does  this  resolution 
contemplate  1  What  is  proposed  to  be  done  ?  It  first 
proposes  to  supersede  the  present  weak  and  inefficient 
territorial  government,  and  hence  it  enunciates  the 
fundamental  idea  of  the  constitutional  movement. 
Ay,  it  does  more.  It  proposes  to  prove  into  a  fact  the 
leading  idea  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  the 
highest  human  authority  in  American  politics,  which 
is  this ;  whenever  any  form  of  government  becomes 
destructive  of  the  ends  for  which  it  was  instituted,  it 
is  th«  right  of  the  people  to  alter  or  abolish  it,  and  to 


institute  a  new  government.    It   proposes  to  force 

I  theories  of  human  rights  into  facts,  to  practically  ap- 

j  ply  this  great  principle  to  the  wants  and  the  necessi- 

!  ties  of  the  down-trodden  people  of  Kansas.     I  do  not 

1  question  this  right  of  tl>e  people,   and  certainly  no 

gentlemau  on  this  floor  will  disagree  with  me.     If  he 

does,  he  occupies  a  most  extraordinary  position,  and 

consistency  would  suggest  that  he  withdraw  from  this 

body.     No,  when  we  say  that  we  will  take  measures  to 

supersede  and  render  unnecessary  that  thing  now  ex- 

'  tended  over  us  called  a  territorial  government — when- 

j  we  say  and  maintain  that  we  have  a  right  guaranteed 

'  by  the  Constitution,  to  have  a  form  of  government 

resting  on  our  own  consent  and  free  will,  we  are  only 

i  doing  what,  as  American  citizens,  we  have  a  right  to 

j  do  ;  we  only  propose  to  carry  out  the  doctrine,  much 

j  abused  and  grossly  misrepresented  as  it  has  been — I 

>  mean  the  doctrine  of  squatter  sovereignty,  under  which 

''  we  are  assembled  here  to-day,  and  in  pursuance  of  the 

principles  of   which  we  hope  to  extricate  ourselves 

from  our  present  unhappy  condition." 

It  is  but  just  to  state,  that  in  another  part  of 
this  same  speech,  Mr.  Emery  declared  himself 
opposed  to  an  immediate  election  "  under  the 
new  constitution,  and  an  immediate  session  of 
the  general  assembly,  when  all  the  wheels  of 
State  government  shall  be  put  in  motion,  irre 
spective  of  the  action  of  Congress,  upon  due  ap 
plication  for  admission.  Mr.  E.  presented  his 
objections  to  the  position  of  Mr.  Smith,  and 
maintained  the  views  above  indicated.  He 
contended  that,  inasmuch  as  the  Territorial  form 
of  government  was  recognized  by  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States,  and  hence  a  legal 
form  of  government,  no  other  government  could 
be  substituted  so  long  as  that  was  in  existence, 
without  risking  the  most  serious  consequences, 
to  say  the  least." 

In  reply  to  the  advocates  of  immediate  State 
organization,  Mr.  Delahay,  of  Leavenworth, 
said: 

"  Under  the  defined  rights  of  squatter  sovereignty, 
as  enunciated  by  the  Kansas-Nebraska  act,  it  seems 
reasonable  that  the  people  have  the  right  to  take  upon 
themselves  the  burdens  of  a  government ,  but  I  ques 
tion  the  right  of  the  people  of  Kansas  to  organize  a 
new  government  if  its  authority  is  to  come  in  conflict 
!  with  that  of  the  government  created  by  Congress. 
The  gentleman  from  Lawrence  [Colonel  Lane]  has 
assumed  as  a  fundamental  position,  in  advocating  an 
immediate  State  organization,  that  neither  govern- 
m  nt  nor  local  law  exists  in  this  Territory.  Sir, 
I  must  dissent  from  that  po.'ition.  I  deny,  Mr. 
Chairman,  that  a  Territorial  government  can  be  le 
gally  abolished  by  the  election  of  another  govern 
ment.  I  hold,  on  the  contrary,  and  I  think  that  my 
position  would  be  supported  by  our  highest  legal  au 
thorities,  that  the  power  of  a  Territorial  government 
ceases  only  by  the  enactment  of  the  body  which  crea 
ted  it;  in  other  words,  that  the  government  and 
laws  of  Kansas  can  be  abolished  by  Congress  alone, 
and  are  beyond  the  reach  of  this  Territory,  or  any 
other  power.  I  do  not  pretend  to  deny  that,  as  all  civil 
power  is  derived  from  the  people,  they  have  the  moral 
right  to  abolish  unjust  laws,  orto  overthrow  obnoxious 
governments  by  force;  but  I  do  question  the  expedi 
ency  of  effecting  a  reform  in  Kansas  by  any  overt  act 
of  rebellion.  For  I  must  confess,  Mr.  Chairman, 
while  I  cast  not  the  shadow  of  suspicion  on  the  mo 
tives  of  the  advocates  of  this  measure,  that  from  the 
point  of  view  from  which  I  regard  this  question,  it 
appears  to  me  to  be  an  act  of  rebellion." 

Your  committee  have  made  these  voluminous 
extracts  from  the  best  authenticated  reports 
which  they  have  been  able  to  obtain  of  the 
proceedings  of  the  convention,  for  the  purpose 
of  showing  that  it  was  distinctly  understood  on 
all  sides  that  the  adoption  of  the  proposition  for 
organizing  the  State  government,  before  the  as 
sent  of  Congress  for  the  admission  of  the  State 
should  be  obtained,  was  a  decision  in  favor  of 
repudiating  the  laws,  and  overthrowing  the  Ter 
ritorial  government  in  defiance  of  the  authority 
of  Congress.  By  this  decision  as  incorporated 
into  the  schedule  to  the  constitution,  the  vote  on. 
the  ratification  to  the  constitution  was  to  be  held 
on  the  15th  of  December,  1855,  and  the  election 


TEE  KANSAS-NEBRASKA  STRUGGLE. 


107 


for  all  State  officers  on  the  third  Tuesday  of  Jan- 
nary,  1856.  The  third  section  of  the  schedule  is 
as  follows ; 

"  The  general  assembly  shall  meet  on  the  4th 
day  of  March,  A.  D.  1856,  at  the  city  of  Topeka,  ac 
12  m..  at  which  time  and  place  the  governor,  lieuten 
ant-governor,  secretary  of  state,  judges  of  supreme 
court,  treasurer,  auditor,  state  printer,  reporter, 
and  clerk of'supreme  court, and  attorney-general,  shall 
appear,  take  the  oath  of  office,  and  enter  upon  the 
discharge  of  the  duties  of  their  respective  offices  un 
der  this  constitution;  and  shall  continue  in  office  in 
the  same  manner,  and  during  the  same  period,  they 
would  have  done  had  they  been  elected  on  the  first 
Monday  in  August,  A.  D.  1856." 

The  elections  for  all  these  officers  were  held 
at  the  time  specified  ;  and  on  the  fourth  day  of 
the  present  month,  the  new  government  was  to 
have  been  put  in  operation,  in  conflict  with 
the  Territorial  government  established  by  Con- 


ordinary  privileges  and  immunities  of  citizens  of  the 
I  United  States.  Among  these,  is  the  right  to  assemble 

and   to  petition   the  government  for  the  redress  of 

grievances  ;  in  the  exercise  of  this  right,  the  inhabit- 
j  ants  of  Arkansas  may  peaceably  meet  together  in 

primary  assemblies,  or  in  conventions  chosen  by  such 
j  assemblies,  for  the  purpose  of  petitioning  Congress  to 
j  abrogate  the  Territorial  government,  and  to  admit 
i  them  into  the  Union  as  an  independent  State.  The 
i  particular  form  which  they  may  give  to  their  petition 
j  cannot  be  material,  so  long  as  they  confine  themselves 
|  to  the  mere  right  of  petitioning,  and  conduct  all  their 
1  proceedings  in  a  peaceable  manner.  And  as  'be  power  of 

Congress  over  the  whole  subject  is  plenary  and  unlim- 
I  ited  they  may  accept  any  constitution, however  framed, 
j  which  in  their  judgment  meets  the  sense  of  the  peo- 
j  pie  to  be  affected  by  it.  If.  therefore,  the  citizens  of 
i  Arkansas  think  proper  to  accompany  their  petition 
'  with  a  written  constitution,  framed  and  agreed  on  bj 

their  primary  assemblies,  or  by  a  convention  of  dele- 
;  gates  chosen  by  such  assemblies,  I  perceive  no  legal 
j  objection  to  their  power  to  do  so,  nor  to  any  measure 


to  the  action  of  Congress  upon  their  applica 
tion  for  admission  into  the  Union. 

Your  committee  are  not  aware  of  any  case  in 
the  history  of  our  own  country,  which  can  be 
fairly  cited  as  an  example,  much  less  a  justifica-  j 
tion,  for  these  extraordinary  proceedings.  Cases 
have  occurred  in  which  the  inhabitants  of  par-  : 
ticular  Territories  have  been  permitted  to  form 
constitutions,  and  take  the  initiatory  steps  for  the 
organization  of  State  governments,  preparatory 
to  their  admission  into  the   Union,  without  ob 
taining  the  previous   assent  of  Congress  j  BUT  i 

IN    EVERY     INSTANCE       THE      PROCEEDING      HAS  j 
ORIGINATED    WITH,    AND    BEEN    CONDUCTED    IN  | 
SUBORDINATION  TO,  THE  AUTHORITY  OF  THE  LO 
CAL    GOVERNMENTS    ESTABLISHED     OR      RECOG 
NIZED    BY     THE     GOVERNMENT    OF     THE  UNITED 

STATES.  Michigan,  Arkansas,  Florida,  and  Cali 
fornia,  are  sometimes  cited  as  cases  in  point. 
Michigan  was  erected  into  a  Territory  in  pur 
suance  of  the  ordinance  of  the  13th  of  July,  1787, 
as  recognized  and  carried  into  effect  by  acts  of 
Congress  subsequent  to  the  adoption  of  the 
Federal  Constitution.  In  that  ordinance  it  was 

S'ovided  that  the  Territory  northwest  of  the 
hio  river  should  be  divided  into  not  less  than 
three  nor  more  than  five  States  ;  "  and,  when 
ever  any  of  said  States  shall  have  sixty  thou 
sand  free  inhabitants  therein,  such  State  shall 
be  admitted,  by  its  delegates,  into  the  Congress 
of  the  United  States  on  an  equal  footing  with 
the  original  States  in  all  respects  whatever, 
and  shall  be  at  liberty  to  form  a  permanent  con 
stitution  and  State  government." 

In  pursuance  of  this  provision  of  their  organic 
law,  the  legislature  of  the  Territory  of  Michigan 
passed  an  act  providing  for  a  convention  of  the 
people  to  form  a  constitution  and  State  govern 
ment,  which  was  accordingly  done  in  obedience 
to  the  laws  and  constituted  authorities  of  the 
Territory.  The  legislature  of  the  Territory  of 
Arkansas,  having  ascertained  by  a  census  that 
the  Territory  contained  about  fifty-one  thousand 
eight  hundred  inhabitants,  at  a  time  when  the 
ratio  of  representation  in  Congress  awarded  one 
representative  to  each  forty-seven  thousand 
seven  hundred  inhabitants,  passed  an  act  au 
thorizing  the  people  to  form  a  constitution  and 
ask  for  admission  into  the  Union,  as  they  sup 
posed  they  had  a  right  to  do  under  the  treaty 
acquiring  the  Territory  from  France,  which 
guarantied  their  admission  as  soon  as  may  be 
consistent  with  the  Federal  Constitution.  Upon 
this  point  your  committee  adopt  the  legal  opin 
ion  of  the  Attorney-General  of  the  United  States, 
(B.  F.  Butler,)  as  expressed  in  the  following  ex 
tract  : 


be  commenced  and  prosecuted  in  a  peaceable  manner, 
in  strict  subordination  to  the  existing  Territorial  gov 
ernment,  and  in  entire  subserviency  to  the  power  of 
Congress  to  adopt,  reject,  or  disregard  them  at  their 
pleasure. 

"It  is,  however,  very  obvious,  that  all  measures  com 
menced  and  prosecuted  with  a  design  to  subvert  the 
Territorial  government,  and  to  establish  and  put  in 
force  in  its  place  a  new  government,  without  the  con 
sent  of  Congress,  will  bo  unlawful.  The  laws  estab 
lishing  the  Territorial  government  must  continue  in 
force  uu'il  abrogated  by  Congress  ;  and,  in  the  mean 
time,  it  will  be  the  duty  of  the  governor,  and  of  all 
the  Territorial  officers,  as  well  as  of  the  President,  to 
take  care  that  they  are  faithfully  executed." 

On  the  llth  day  of  January,  1839,  a  commit 
tee  of  the  constitutional  convention  of  Florida 
addressed  a  memorial  to  Congress,  in  which 
they  state  that,  in  1837,  the  Territorial  council 
passed  a  law  submitting  to  the  people  the  ques 
tion  of  "  State"  or  "  Territory,"  to  be  decided 
at  the  election  of  delegates  to  Congress  in  the 
month  of  May  of  that  year;  that  a  decided  ma 
jority  of  the  suffrages  given  at  that  election 
was  in  favor  of  "  State  ;"  that  the  legislative 
council  of  1838,  in  obedience  to  the  expressed 
wishes  of  the  people,  enacted  a  law  authoriz 
ing  the  holding  of  a  convention  to  form  and 
adopt  a  State  constitution ;  that  the  conven 
tion  assembled  on  the  3d  of  December.  1838, 
and  continued  in  session  until  the  llth  of  Janu 
ary,  1839 :  and  that,  on  behalf  of  the  people  of 
Florida,  they  transmit  the  "  constitution,  or 
form  of  government,"  and  ask  for  admission  into 
the  Union.  It  is  also  stated  in  the  memorial 
that  in  1838  a  census  of  the  Territory  wag 
taken,  in  obedience  to  a  law  passed  by  the  Ter 
ritorial  council,  and  that  this  census,  although 
taken  during  the  ravages  of  Indian  hostilities, 
when  a  large  portion  of  the  inhabitants  could 
not  be  found  at  home,  showed  an  aggregate 
population  of  forty-eight  thousand  two  hundred 
and  twenty-three  persons,  which  the  memorial 
ists  insisted  furnished  satisfactory  assurance  of 
a  sufficient  population  to  entitle  them  to  admis- 
j  sion,  according  to  the  treaty  acquiring  the 
country  from  Spain,  and  the  then  ratio  of  repre- 
i  sentation,  which  awarded  a  member  of  Congress 
!  to  each  47,700  inhabitants.  Congress  failing  to 
!  yield  its  assent  to  the  admission  of  Florida  for 
more  than  six  years  after  this  constitution  was 
formed  and  application  made,  the  people  of  Flo 
rida,  during  all  that  period,  remained  loyal  to  the 
Territorial  government,  and  obedient  to  its  laws, 
and  did  not  assume  the  right  to  supersede  the 
existing  government  by  putting  into  operation 
a  State  government  until  the  assent  of  Congress 
was  obtained  in  1845. 

The  circumstances  connected  with  the  forma- 


108 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR   SLAVERY   RESTRICTION. 


our  troops,  and  the  civil  government  administer 
ed  by  the  military  authorities  under  the  war- 
power.  According  to  an  official  communication 
of  General  Persifer  F.  Smith,  acting  governor  of 
California,  to  a  committee  of  citizens  of  San 
Francisco,  under  date  of  March  27,  1849,  with 
holding  his  "recognition  and  concurrence"  in 
their  proposition  "  to  organize  a  legislative  as 
sembly,  and  to  appoint  judges  and  other  minis 
terial  officers,  and  to  enact  suitable  laws  to  es 
tablish  principles  of  justice  and  equity,  and  to 
give  protection  to  life,  liberty,  and  property,"  it 
appears  that  the  President  of  the  United  States 
(Mr.  Polk)  and  his  cabinet  officially  promulga 
ted  the  following  opinions  as  the  decision  of  the 
Executive  on  the  points  stated  : 

1st.  That  at  the  conclusion  of  the  treaty  with 
Mexico,  on  the  30th  of  May,  1848,  the  military 
government  existing  in  California  was  a  govern 
ment  de  facto. 

2nd.  That  it,  of  necessity,  continue  until  Con 
gress  provide  another;  because,  if  it  cease,  an 
archy  must  ensue :  thus  inferring  that  no  power 
but  Congress  can  establish  any  government. 

It  also  appears,  from  the  proclamation  of 
General  Riley,  acting  governor,  to  the  people 
of  California,  dated  June  3d,  1849,  that  a  gov 
ernment  de  facto  was  constituted  as  follows  : 

"  A  brief  summary  of  the  organization  of  the  present 
government  may  not  be  uninteresting.  It  consists — 
First,  of  a  governor  appointed  by  the  supreme  govern 
ment  ;  in  default  of  such  appointment,  the  office  is 
temporarily  vested  in  the  commanding  military  officer 
of  the  department.  The  powers  and  duties  of  the  gover 
nor  are  of  a  limited  character,  but  fully  defined  and 
poimedoutby  the  laws.  Second,  a  secretary,  whose  du 
ties  and  powers  are  also  properly  defined.  Third,  a  terri 
torial  or  departmental  legislature,  with  limited  powers 
to  pass  laws  of  a  local  character.  Fourth,  a  superior 
court  (tribunal  superior)  of  the  Territory,  consisting 
of  four  judges  and  a  fiscal.  Fifth,  a  prefect  and  sub- 
prefect  lor  each  district,  who  are  charged  with  the 
preservation  of  the  public  order  and  the  execution  of 
the  laws  ;  their  duties  correspond,  in  a  great  measure, 
with  those  of  district  marshals  and  sheriffs.  Sixth,  a 
judge  of  first  instance,  for  each  district.  This  office  is, 
by  a  custom,  not  inconsistent  with  the  laws,  vested 
in  the  first  alcalde  of  the  district.  Seventh,  al 
caldes,  who  have  concurrent  jurisdiction  among  them 
selves  in  the  same  district,  but  are  subordinate  to  the 
higher  judicial  tribunals.  Eighth,  local  justices  of 
the  peace.  Ninth,  ayuntamientos,  or  town  councils. 
The  powers  and  functions  of  all  these  officers  are  ful 
ly  defined  in  the  laws  of  the  country,  and  are  almost 
identical  with  those  of  the  corresponding  officers  in 
the  Atlantic  and  Western  States." 

On  the  3d  of  April,  1849,  President  Taylor  ap 
pointed  Thomas  Butler  King  agent,  for  the  pur 
pose  of  conveying  important  instructions  to  our 
military  and  naval  commanders  who  were  in 
trusted  with  the  administration  of  the  civil  gov 
ernment  de  facto  in  California,  and  to  make 
known  to  the  people  his  opinions  and  wishes  in 
respect  to  the  formation  of  a  constitution  and 
State  government  preparatory  to  their  admis 
sion  into  the  Union.  What  these  opinions  and 
wishes  were,  are  distinctly  stated  by  the  Presi 
dent  in  the  following  extract  from  his  special 
message  to  Congress  on  the  23d  of  January, 

"  I  did  not  hesitate  to  express  to  the  people  of  those 
Territories  my  desire  that  each  Territory  should,  if 
prepared  to  comply  with  the  requisitions  of  the  Con 
stitution  of  the  United  States,  foim  a  plan  of  a  State 
Constitution,  and  submit  the  same  to  Congress,  with 
a  prayer  for  admission  into  the  Union  as  a  State;  but 
I  did  not  anticipate,  suggest,  or  authorize  the  estab 
lishment  of  any  such  government  without  the  assent  , 
of  Congress ;  nor  did  I  authorize  any  government-  j 
agent  or  officer  to  interfere  with,  or  exercise  any  in 
fluence  or  control  over  the  election  of  delegates,  or 
over  any  convention,  in  making  or  modifying  their 
domestic  institutions,  or  any  of  the  provisi»ns  of  their 
proposed  Constitution.  On  the  contrary,  the  instruc 
tion*  by  my  orders  were,  that  all  measures  of  domestic 


policy,  adopted  by  the  people  of  California,  must 
originate  solely  with  themselves  ;  that,  while  the 
Executive  of  the  United  States  was  desirous  to  protect 
them  in  the  formation  of  any  government  republican 
in  its  character,  to  be.  at  the  proper  time,  submitted 
to  Congress,  yet  it  was  to  be  distinctly  understood  that 
the  plan  of  such  a  government  must,  at  the  same 
time,  be  the  result  of  their  own  deliberate  choice,  and 
originate  with  themselves,  without  the  interference 
of  the  Executive." 

On  the  30th  of  June,  1850,  General  Riley,  in 
his  capacity  as  civil  governor  of  California,  re 
ports  to  the  government  at  Washington  that : 

"  On  the  3rd  instant,  I  issued  my  proclamation  to  the 
people  of  California,  defining  what  was  understood  to 
be  the  legal  position  of  affairs  here  ;  and  pointing  out 
the  course  it  was  deemed  advisable  to  pursue  in  order 
to  procure  a  new  political  organization,  better  adapted 
to  the  character  and  present  condition  of  the  country. 
The  course  indicated  in  my  proclamation  will  be 
adopted  by  the  people,  almost  unanimously ;  and 
there  is  now  little  or  no  doubt  that  the  convention 
will  meet  on  the  first  of  September  next,  and  form  a 
State  Constitution,  to  be  submitted  to  Congress  in 
the  early  part  of  the  coming  session. 

"  A  few  prefer  a  Territorial  organization ;  but  I 
think  a  majority  will  be  in  favor  of  a  State  govern 
ment,  so  as  to  avoid  all  further  difficulties  respecting 
the  question  of  Slavery.  This  question  will  probably 
be  submitted,  together  with  the  Constitution,  to  a 
direct  vote  of  the  people,  in  order  that  the  wishes  of 
the  people  of  California  may  be  clearly  and  fully  ex 
pressed.  Of  course,  the  Constitution  or  plan  of  a  Ter 
ritorial  government  formed  by  this  convention,  can 
have  no  legal  force  till  approved  by  Congress." 

On  the  12th  day  of  October,  General  Riley, 
acting  governor,  issued  the  following  proclama 
tion  : 

"  To  the  People  of  California. 

"  The  delegates  of  the  people,  assembled  in  conven 
tion,  have  formed  a  constitution  which  is  now  pre 
sented  for  your  ratification.  The  time  and  manner 
of  voting  on  this  constitution,  and  of  holding  the  first 
general  election,  are  clearly  set  forth  in  the  schedule. 
The  whole  subject  is,  therefore,  left  for  your  unbiased 
and  deliberate  consideration. 

"  The  prefect  (or  person  exercising  the  functions 
of  that  office),  of  each  district  will  designate  the 
places  for  opening  the  polls,  and  give  due  notice  of 
the  election,  in  accordance  with  the  provisions  of  the 
constitution  and  schedule. 

"  The  people  are  now  called  upon  to  form  a  govern 
ment  for  themselves,  and  to  designate  such  officers  as 
they  desire  to  make  and  execute  the  laws.  That  their 
choice  may  be  wisely  made,  and  that  the  government 
so  organized  may  secure  the  permanent  welfare  and 
happiness  of  the  people  of  the  new  State,  is  the  sincere 
and  earnest  wish  of  the  pre-ent  executive,  who,  if  the 
constitution  be  ratified,  will  with  pleasure  surrender 
his  powers  to  whomsoever  the  people  may  designate 
as  his  successor. 

"  Given  at  Monterey,  California,  this  twelfth  day 
of  October,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  eighteen  hundred 
and  forty-nine. 

"  B.  RILEY, 

Brevet  Brig.   Gen.  U.  S.  A.,  and  Governor  of  Cali 
fornia. 

"  Official :  H.  W.  HALLECK, 

Brevet  Captain*  and  Secretary  of  State." 

_  These  facts  and  official  papers  prove  conclu 
sively  that  the  proposition  to  the  people  of  Cali 
fornia,  to  hold  a  convention  and  organize  a  State 
government,  originated  with,  and  that  all  the  pro 
ceedings  were  had  in  subordination  to,  the  au 
thority  and  supremacy  of  the  existing  local  gov 
ernment  of  the  Territory,  under  the  advice,  and 
with  the  approval,  of  the  executive  government 
of  the  United  States,  Hence  the  action  of  the 
people  of  California  in  forming  their  constitution 
and  State  government,  and  of  Congress  in  ad 
mitting  the  State  into  the  Union,  cannot  be  cited, 
with  the  least  show  of  justice  or  fairness,  in  jus 
tification  or  palliation  of  the  revolutionary  move 
ments  to  subvert  the  government  which  Con 
gress  has  established  in  Kansas. 
Nor  can  the  insurgents  derive  aid  or  comfort 


THE  KANSAS-NEBRASKA  STRUGGLE. 


109 


from  the  position  assumed  by  either  party  to 
the  unfortunate  controversy  which  arose  in  the 
State  of  Khode  Island,  a  few  years  ago,  when 
an  effort  was  made  to  change  the  organic  law, 
and  set  up  a  State  government  in  opposition  to 
the  one  then  in  existence,  under  the  charter 

¥  ranted  by  Charles  the  Second  of  England, 
hose  who  were  engaged  in  that  unsuccessful 
struggle  assumed,  as  fundamental  truths  in  our 
system  of  government,  that  Rhode  Island  was 
a  Sovereign  Stater  in  all  that  pertained  to  her 
internal  affairs ;  that  the  right  to  change  their 
organic  law  was  an  essential  attribute  of  sove 
reignty;  that,  inasmuch  as  the  charter  under 


Committee,  may  be  traced  the  origin  and  pro 
gress  of  all  the  controversies  and  disturbances 
with  which  Kansas  is  now  convulsed. 

If  these  unfortunate  troubles  have  resulted,  as 
natural  consequences,  from  unauthorized  and  im 
proper  schemes  of  foreign  interference  with  the 
internal  affairs  and  domestic  concerns  of  the 
Territory,  it  is  apparent  that  the  remedy  must 
be  sought  in  a  strict  adherence  to  the  principles, 
and  rigid  enforcement  of  the  provisions,  of  the 

-v     .  organic  law.     In  this  connection,  your  Committee 

winch  the  existing  government  was  organized  feel  sincere  satisfaction  in  commending  the  mes- 
contamcd  no  provision  for  changing  or  amend-  sages  and  proclamation  of  the  President  of  the 
ing  the  same,  and  the  people  had  not  delegated  United  States,  in  which  we  have  the  gratifying 
that  right  to  the  legislature  or  any  other  tribunal,  assurance  that  the  supremacy  of  the  laws  will  be 


use  of  similar  means  in  the  slaveholding  States, 
to  produce  directly  the  opposite  result.  To  these 
s,  and  to  these  alone,  in  the  opinion  of  your 


it  followed,  as  a  matter  of  course,  that  they  had 
retained  it,  and  were  at  liberty  to  exercise  it  in 
such  manner  as  to  them  should  seem  wise,  just, 
and  proper. 

Without  deeming  it  necessary  to  express  any 
opinion  on  this  occasion,  in  reference  to  the 
merits  of  that  controversy,  it  is  evident  that  the 
principles  upon  which  it  was  conducted  are  not 
involved  in  the  revolutionary  struggle  now  going 
on  in  Kansas;  for  the  reason,  that  the  sove 
reignty  of  a  Territory  remains  in  abeyance, 
suspended  in  the  United  States,  in  trust  for  the 
people,  until  they  shall  be  admitted  into  the 
Union  as  a  State.  In  the  mean  time,  they  are 
entitled  to  enjoy  and  exercise  all  the  privileges 
and  rights  of  self-government,  in  subordination 
to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  in 
obedience  to  their  organic  law  passed  by  Con 
gress  in  pursuance  of  that  instrument.  These 
rights  and  privileges  are  all  derived  from  the 
Constitution,  through  the  act  of  Congress,  and 
must  be  exercised  and  enjoyed  in  subjection  to 
all  the  limitations  and  restrictions  which  that 
Constitution  imposes.  Hence,  it  is  clear  that 
the  people  of  the  Territory  have  no  inherent 
sovereign  right,  under  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  to  annul  the  laws  and  resist  the 
authority  of  the  territorial  government  which 
Congress  has  established  in  obedience  to  the 
Constitution. 

In  tracing,  step  by  step,  the  origin  and  history 
of  these  Kansas  difficulties,  your  Committee 
have  been  profoundly  impressed  with  the  signi 
ficant  fact,  that  each  one  has  resulted  from  an 
attempt  to  violate  or  circumvent  the  principles 
and  provisions  of  the  act  of  Congress  for  the  or 
ganization  of  Kansas  and  Nebraska.  The  leading 
idea  and  fundamental  principle  of  the  Kansas- 
Nebraska  act,  as  expressed  in  the  law  itself, 
was  to  leave  the  actual  settlers  and  bona-Jide  in 
habitants  of  each  Territory  "  perfectly  free  to 
form  and  regulate  their  domestic  institutions  in 
their  own  way,  subject  only  to  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States."  While  this  is  declared  to 
be  "  the  true  intent  and  meaning  of  the  act," 
those  who  were  opposed  to  allowing  the  people 
of  the  Territory,  preparatory  to  thjnr  admission 


maintained;  that  rebellion  will  be  crushed;  that 
insurrection  will  be  suppressed;  that  aggressive 
intrusion  for  the  purpose  of  deciding  elections, 
or  any  other  purpose,  will  be  repelled  ;  that  un 
authorized  intermeddling  in  the  local  concerns 
of  the  Territory,  both  from  adjoining  and  distant 
States,  will  be  prevented  ;  that  the  federal  and 
local  laws  will  be  vindicated  against  all  attempts 
of  organized  resistance;  and  that  the  people  of 
the  Territory  will  be  protected  in  the  establish 
ment  of  their  own  institutions,  undisturbed  by 
encroachments  from  without,  and  in  the  full  en 
joyment  of  the  rights  of  self-government  assured 
to  them  by  the  Constitution  and  the  organic  law. 

In  view  of  these  assurances,  given  under  the 
conviction  that  the  existing  laws  confer  all  the 
authority  necessary  to  the  performance  of  these 
important  duties,  and  that  the  whole  available 
force  of  the  United  States  will  be  exerted  to  the 
extent  required  for  their  performance,  your  Com 
mittee  repose  in  entire  confidence  that  peace, 
and  security,  and  law,  will  prevail  in  Kansas. 
If  any  further  evidence  were  necessary  to  prove 
that  all  the  collisions  and  difficulties  in  Kansas 
have  been  produced  by  the  schemes  of  foreign 
interference  which  have  been  developed  in  this 
report,  in  violation  of  the  principles  and  in  eva 
sion  of  the  provisions  of  the  Kansas-Nebraska 
act,  it  may  be  found  in  the  fact  that  in  Nebraska, 
to  which  the  emigrant-aid  societies  did  not  ex 
tend  their  operations,  and  into  which  the  stream 
of  emigration  was  permitted  to  flow  in  its  usual 
and  natural  channels,  nothing  has  occurred  to 
disturb  the  peace  and  harmony  of  the  Territory, 
while  the  principle  of  self-government,  in  obe 
dience  to  the  Constitution,  has  had  fair  play, 
and  is  quietly  working  out  its  legitimate  results. 

It  now  only  remains  for  your  Committee  to 
respond  to  the  two  specific  recommendations  of 
the  President,  in  his  special  message.  They  are 
as  follows  : 

"  Tbis,  it  seems  to  me,  can  be  best  accomplished  by 
providing  that,  when  the  inhabitants  of  Kansas  may 
i1e<ire  it,  and  shall  be  of  sufficient  numbers  to  consti 
tute  a  State,  a  convention  of  delegates,  duly  elected 
by  the  qualified  voters,  shall  a>semble  to  frame  a 
constitution,  and  thus  prepare,  through  regular  and 


lawful  means,  for  its  admission  into  the  Union  as  a 
glate     l  respectfaily  recommend  the  enactment  of  a 
question   for  themselves,  failing   to  accomplish  !  iaw  to  that  effect. 

their  purpose  in  the  halls  of  Congress,  and  under  ••  I  recommend,  also,  that  a  special  appropriation  be 
the  authority  of  the  Constitution,  immediately  I  made  to  defray  any  expense  which  may  become  requi- 
rosortnd.  in  thoir  resnective  States,  to  unusual  site  in  the  execution  of  the  laws,  or  the  miiutenance 


TT   .       -     -    0-    ,      ,   -  ,     .  ,-   ,,  . 

into  the  Union  as  a  State,  to  decide  the  Slavery  |  glate 

hemselves,  failing   to  accomplish  !  iaw  to 


resorted,  in  their  respective  States,  to  unusual 
and  extraordinary  means  to  control  the  political 
destinies  and  shape  the  domestic  institutions  of 
Kansas,  in  defiance  of  the  wishes,  and  regardless 
of  the  rights,  of  the  people  of  that  Territory,  as 
guaranteed  by  their  organic  law.  Combinations, 
in  one  section  of  the  Union,  to  stimulate  an  un 
natural  and  false  system  of  emigration,  with  the 
view  of  controlling  the 
domestic  institutions  of 


of  public  order  in  the  Territory  of  Kansas." 

In  compliance  with  the  first  recommendation, 
your  committee  ask  leave  to  report  a  bill  author 
izing  the  legislature  of  the  Territory  to  provide 
by  law  for  the  election  of  delegates  by  the  people, 
and  the  assembling  of  a  convention  to  form  a 
constitution  and  State  government  preparatory 
-  Union  on  an  equal 
so  soon  as  it  shall 


elections^  and  forcing  the  I  to  their  admission  into  the   U 
f  the  Territory  to  assimi-  I  footing  with  the  original  States, 


late  to  those  of  the  non-slaveholding  States,  were    appear,  by  a  census  to  be  taken  under  the  direc- 
followed,  as  might  have  been  foreseen,  by  the  j  tioii  of  the  governor,  by  the  authority  of  the  legis- 


110 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  SLAVERY  RESTRICTION. 


lature,  that  the  Territory  contains  ninety-three 
thousand  four  hundred  and  twenty  inhabitants— 
that  being  the  number  required  by  the  present 
ratio  of  representation  for  a  member  of  Con 
gress. 

In  compliance  with  the  other  recommendation, 
your  committee  propose  to  oft'er  to  the  appropria 
tion  bill  an  amendment  appropriating  such  sum 
as  shall  be  found  necessary,  by  the  estimates  to 
be  obtained,  for  the  purpose  indicated  in  the  re 
commendation  of  the  President. 

All  of  which  is  respectfully  submitted  to  the 
Senate  by  your  committee. 


Mr.  Collamer  of  Vermont,  the  minority 
member  of  said  Committee,  submitted  the 
following 

MINORITY  REPORT- 

Vieios  of  the  minority  of  the  Committee  on  Terri 
tories,  to  whom  was  referred  so  much  of  the  an 
nual  message  of  the   President  as    relates  to 
Territorial  affairs,  the  message  of  the  Presi 
dent    of  24^  January  in  relation   to  Kansas 
Territory,  and  the  message  of  tke   President 
of  the  \%th  February,  in  answer  to  the  resolu 
tion  of  the  Senate  of  the  \th  February,  rela 
tive  to  affairs  in  Kansas. 
Thirteen  of  the  present  prosperous  States  of 
this  Union  passed  through  the  period  of  appren 
ticeship  or  pupilage  of  territorial  training,  under 
the  guardianship   of  Congress,    preparatory  to 
assuming  their  proud  rank  of  manhood  as  sove 
reign  and  independent   States.      This  period  of 
their  pupilage  was,  in  every  case,  a  period  of  the 
good  offices  of  parent  and  child,  in  the  kind  rela 
tionship  sustained  between  the  national  and  the 
Territorial    government,  and    may  be    remem 
bered  with  feelings  of  gratitude  and  pride.    We 
have  fallen  on  different  times.     A  Territory  of 
our  government  is  now  convulsed  with  violence 
and  discord,  and  the  whole  family  of  our  nation 
is  in  a  state  of    cxitement  and   anxiety.     The 
national  executive  power  is  put  in  motion,   the 
army  in  requisition,  and  Congress  is  invoked  for 
interference. 

In  this  case,  as  in  all  others  of  difficulty,  it  be 
comes  necessary  to  inquire  what  is  the  true  cause 
of  existing  trouble,  in  order  to  apply  effectual 
cure.  It  is  but  temporary  palliatives  to  deal  with 
the  external  and  more  obvious  manifestations 
and  developments,  while  the  real,  procuring 
cause  lies  unattended  to,  and  uncorrected,  and 
unremoved. 

It  is  said  that  organized  opposition  to  law  ex 
ists  in  Kansas.  That,  if  existing,  may  probably 
be  suppressed  by  the  President,  by  the  use  of  the 
army  ;  and  so,  too,  may  invasions  by  armed  bodies 
from  Missouri,  if  the  Executive  be  sincere  in  its 
efforts  ;  but  when  this  is  done,  while  the  cause 
of  trouble  remains,  the  results  will  continue  with 
renewed  and  increased  developments  of  danger. 
Let  us,  then,  look  fairly  and  undisguisedly  at 
this  subject,  in  its  true  character  and  history. 
Wherein  does  this  Kansas  Territory  differ  from 
all  our  other  Territories,  which  have  been  so 
peacefully  and  successfully  carried  through,  and 
been  developed  into  the  manhood  of  independent 
States  ?  Can  that  difference  account  for  existing 
troubles  ?  Can  that  difference,  as  a  cause  of  trou 
ble,  be  removed  ? 

The  first  and  great  point  of  difference  between 
the  Territorial  government  of  Kansas  and  that 
of  the  thirteen  Territorial  governments  before 
mentioned,  consists  in  the  subject  of  Slavery — 
the  undoubted  cause  of  present  trouble. 

The  action  of  Congress  in  relation  to  all  those 
thirteen  Territories  was  conducted  on  a  uniform 
and  prudent  principle,  to  wit :  To  settle,  by  a 


clear  provision,  the  law  in  relation  to  the  subject 
of  slavery  to  be  operative  in  the  Territory,  while 
it  remained  such  ;  not  leaving  it  in  any  one  of 
those  cases  to  be  a  subject  of  controversy  within 
the  same,  while  in  the  plastic  gristle  of  its  youth. 
This  was  done  by  Congress  in  the  exercise  of  the 
same  power  which  moulded  the  form  of  their  or 
ganic  laws,  and  appointed  their  executive  and 
judiciary,  and  sometimes  their  legislative  officers; 
It  was  the  power  provided  in  the  Constitution,  in 
these  words:  "Congress  shajl  have  power  to 
dispose  of  and  make  all  needful  rules  and  re 
gulations  respecting  the  Territory  or  other  pro 
perty  belonging  to  the  United  States."  Settling 
the  subject  of  Slavery  while  the  country  remain 
ed  a  Territory,  was  no  higher  exercise  of  power 
in  Congress  than  the  regulation  of  the  functions 
of  the  Territorial  government,  and  actually  ap 
pointing  its  principal  functionaries.  This  prac 
tice  commenced  with  this  national  government, 
and  was  continued,  with  uninterrupted  uniform 
ity,  for  more  than  sixty  years.  This  practical 
contemporaneous  construction  of  the  constitu 
tional  power  of  this  government  is  too  clear  to 
leave  room  for  doubt,  or  opportunity  for  skepti 
cism.  The  peace,  prosperity,  and  success  which 
attended  this  course,  and  the  results  which  have 
ensued,  in  the  formation  and  admission  of  the 
thirteen  States  therefrom,  are  most  conclusive 
and  satisfactory  evidence,  also,  of  the  wisdom 
and  prudence  with  which  this  power  was  exer 
cised.  Deluded  must  be  that  people  who,  in  the 
pursuit  of  plausible  theories,  become  deaf  to  the 
lessons,  and  blind  to  the  results,  of  their  own  ex 
perience. 

Let  us  next  inquire  by  what  rule  of  uniformity 
Congress  was  governed,  in  the  exercise  of  this 
power  of  determining  the  condition  of  each  Ter 
ritory  as  to  Slavery,  while  remaining  a  Territory, 
as  manifested  in  those  thirteen  instances.  An 
examination  of  our  history  will  show  that  this 
was  not  done  from  time  to  time  by  agitation  and 
local  or  party  triumphs  in  Congress.  The  rule 
pursued  was  uniform  and  clear;  and  whoever 
may  have  lost  by  it,  peace  and  prosperity  have 
been  gained.  That  rule  was  this: 

Where  Slavery  was  actually  existing  in  a 
country  to  any  considerable  or  general  extent,  it 
was  (though  somewhat  modified  as  to  further  im- 

Sjrtation  in  some  instances,  as  in  Mississippi  and 
rleans  Territories)  suffered  to  remain.  The 
fact  that  it  had  been  taken  and  existed  there,  was 
taken  as  an  indication  of  its  adaptation  and  local 
utility.  Where  Slavery  did  not  in  fact  exist  to 
any  appreciable  extent,  the  same  was,  by  Con 
gress,  expressly  prohibited ;  so  that  in  either 
case  the  country  settled  up  without  difficulty  or 
doubt  as  to  the  character  of  its  institutions.  In 
no  instance  was  this  difficult  and  disturbing  sub 
ject  left  to  the  people  who  had  and  who  might 
settle  in  the  Territory,  to  be  there  an  everlasting 
bone  of  contention, 'so  long  as  the  Territorial 
government  should  continue.  It  was  ever  re 
garded,  too,  as  a  subject  in  which  the  whole 
country  had  an  interest,  and,  therefore,  improper 
for  local  legislation. 

And  though  whenever  the  people  of  a  Territory 
come  to  form  their  own  organic  law,  as  an  inde- 
dependeut  State,  they  would,  either  before  or 
after  their  admission  as  a  State,  form  and  mould 
their  institutions,  as  a  sovereign  State,  in  their 
own  way,  yet  it  must  be  expected,  and  has  al 
ways  proved  true,  that  the  State  has  taken  the 
character  her  pupilage  has  prepared  her  for,  as 
well  in  respect  to  Slavery  as  in  other  respects. 
Hence,  six  of  the  thirteen  States  are  free  States, 
because  Slavery  was  prohibited  in  them  by  Con 
gress  while  Territories,  to  wit :  Ohio,  Indiana, 
Illinois,  Michigan,  Wisconsin,  and  Iowa.  Seven 
of  the  thirteen  are  slaveholding  States,  because 
Slavery  was  allowed  in  them  by  Congress  while 


THE  KANSAS-NEBRASKA  STRUGGLE. 


Ill 


they  were  Territories,  to  wit :  Tennessee,  Ala-  j  see    cause 
bama,  Mississippi,  Florida,  Louisiana,  Arkansas    hopes, 
and  Missouri. 


of   a    result   unfavorable   to  their 


On  the  6th  of  March,  A.  D.  1820,  was  passed 
by  Congress  the  act  preparatory  to  the  admission 
of  the  State  of  Missouri  into  the  Union.  Much 
controversy  and  discussion  arose  on  the  question 
whether  a  prohibition  of  Slavery  within  said 
State  should  be  inserted,  and  it  resulted  in  this : 
that  said  State  should  be  admitted  without  such 
prohibition,  but  that  Slavery  should  be  forever 
prohibited  in  the  rest  of  that  country  ceded  to  ua 
Dy  France  lying  north  369  30'  north  latitude, 
and  it  was  so  done.  This  contract  is  known  as 
the  Missouri  Compromise.  Under  this  arrange- 


It  is  further  to  be  observed,  that  in  the  per 
formance  of  this  novel  experiment,  it  was  pro 
vided  that  all  white  men  who  became  inhabit 
ants  in  Kansas  were  entitled  to  vote  without 
regard  to  their  time  of  residence,  usually  provid 
ed  in  other  Territories.  Nor  was  this  right  of 
voting  confined  to  American  citizens,  but  in 
cluded  all  such  aliens  as  had  declared,  or  would 
declare,  on  oath  their  intention  to  become  citi 
zens.  Thus  was  the  proclamation  to  the  world 
to  become  inhabitants  of  Kansas,  and  enlist  in 
this  great  enterprise,  by  the  force  of  numbers, 


,  ,     „    vote,  to  decide  for  it  the   great  question, 

ment,  Missouri  was  admitted  as  a  slaveholding  j  Was  it  to  be  expected  that  this  great  proclama- 
State,  the  same  having  been  a  slaveholding  Ter-  \  tion  for  the  political  tournament  would  be  listen- 
ritory.  Arkansas,  south  of  the  line,  was  formed  !  ed  to  with  indifference  and  apathy  ?  Was  it 
into  a  Territory,  and  Slavery  allowed  therein,  |  prepared  and  presented  in  that  spirit  1  Did  it 

„ i    „  n.~ i__,i :ii.,j_^  —  -i u-i-i: .   i<  * ..  j  *i_i._     .  *i  •       ^  i  •     i      11  i 


and  afterwards  admitted  as  a  slaveholding  State. 
Iowa  was  made  a  Territory,  north  of  the  line, 
and,  under  the  operation  of  the  law,  was  settled 
up  without  slaves,  and  admitted  as  a  free  State. 
The  country  now  making  the  Territories  of 
Kansas  and  Nebraska,  in  1820,  was  almost  or 
entirely  uninhabited,  and  lay  north  of  said  line, 
and  whatever  settlers  entered  the  same  before 
1854  did  so  under  that  law,  forever  forbidding 
Slavery  therein. 

In  1854  Congress  passed  an  act  establishing 


relate  to  a  subject  on  which  the  people  were 
cool  or  indifferent  ?  A  large  part  of  the  people 
of  this  country  look  on  domestic  Slavery  as 
"  only  evil,  and  that  continually,"  alike  to  mas 
ter  and  to  slave,  and  to  the  community  ;  to  be 
left  alone  to  the  management  or  enjoyment  of 
the  people  of  the  States  where  it  exists,  but  not 
to  be  extended,  more  especially  as  it  gives,  or 
may  give,  political  supremacy  to  a  minority  of 
the  people  of  this  country  in  the  United  States 
government.  On  the  other  hand,  many  of  the 


two  new  Territories — Nebraska  and  Kansas — in  I  people  of  another  part  of  the  United  States  re- 
this  region  of  country,  where  Slavery  had  been  J  gard  Slavery,  if  not  in  the  abstract  a  blessing, 
prohibited  for  more  than  thirty  years;  and,  in-  i  at  least  as  now  existing,  a  condition  of  society 
stead  of  leaving  said  law  against  Slavery  in  j  best  for  both  white  ana  black,  while  they  exist 
operation,  or  prohibiting  or  expressly  allowing  together  ;  while  others  regard  it  as  no  evil,  but 
or  establishing  Slavery,  Congress  left  the  sub-  j  as  the  highest  state  of  social  condition.  These 
ject  in  said  Territories,  to  be  discussed,  agitated,  [consider  that  they  cannot,  with  safety  to  their 
and  legislated  on,  from  time  to  time,  and  the  elec- j  interests,  permit  political  ascendancy  to  be 
tious  in  said  Territories  to  be  conducted  with  re-  1  largc-ly  in  the  hands  of  those  unfriendly  to  this 
ference  to  that  subject,  from  year  to  year,  so  j  peculiar  institution.  From  these  conflicting 
long  as  they  should  remain  Territories ;  for, 
whatever  laws  might  be  passed  by  the  Territo 


rial  legislatures  on  this  subject,  must  be  subject 


to  change  or  repeal  by  those  of  the  succeeding 
years.     In  most  former  Territorial  governments, 


views,  long  and  violent  has  been  the  ^  contro 
versy,  and  experience  seems  to  show  it  inter 


minable. 


of  this 


a  large  majority  of  t 
t,  entertained  the  ho 


pe, 


Many,  and  probal 
nation,  lovers   of  quiet, 

it  was  provided  by  law  that  their  laws  were  sub-  j  that,  after  1850,  the  so-called  Compromise  Mea- 
ject  to  the  revision  of  Congress,  so  that  they    sures,  even  though  not  satisfactory  to  the  Free 

would  be  made  with  caution.    In  these  Terri-    0i-A-  -- A  •-- *«--*- *—   — ' 

tories  that  was  omitted. 


States,  would  be  kept  by  their  supporters,  and 
made  by  them  what  they  were  professed  to  be, 


The  provision  in  relation  to  Slavery  in  Ne-  j  a  finality  on  the  subject  of  the  extent  and  limita- 
braska  and  Kansas  is  as  follows  :  "  The  eighth  j  tions  of  slave  territory  ;  more  especially  after  the 
section  of  the  act  preparatory  to  the  admission  !  assurances  contained  in  the  Inaugural  Address 
of  Missouri  into  the  Union  (which  being  incon-  of  President  Pierce.  This  hope  was  fortified  with 
sisteut  with  ike  principle  of  non-intervention  by  j  the  consideration  that  at  that  time  Congress  had, 
Congress  with  Slavery  in  the  States  and  Terri-  1  by  different  provisions,  settled  by  law  the  coii- 
tories,  as  required  by  the  legislation  of  1850,  j  dition  of  Freedom  or  Slavery  for  all  the  territory 
commonly  called  the  compromise  measures)  is  of  the  United  States.  These  hopes  have  been 
hereby  declared  inoperative  and  void ;  it  being  disappointed,  and  from  this  very  provision  lor 
the  true  intent  and  meaning  of  this  act  not  to  ;  repose  has  been  extracted  a,  principle  for  disturb- 
legislate  Slavery  into  said  Territory  or  State,  nor  i  ing  the  condition  of  things  on  which  its  founda- 
to  exclude  it  therefrom,  but  to  leave  the  people  !  tion  of  finality  rested— that  is,  the  permanence 
thereof  perfectly  free  to  form  and  regulate  their  j  and  continuance  of  the  then  existing  condition  ot 
domestic  institutions  in  their  own  way,  subject  !  legal  provisions.  The  establishment  of  the  tern- 
only  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  :  \  torial  governments  for  Utah  and  New-Mexico 

without  a  prohibition  of  Slavery,  was  aoetainea 
by  many  on  the  ground  that  no  such  provision 
was  required  for  its  exclusion,  as  the  condition 
of  the  country  and  its  laws  were  a  sufficient  bar 
rier  ;  and  therefore  they  sustained  them,  because 
it  would  complete  the  series,  and  finish  the  pro 
visions  as  to  Slavery  in  all  our  territory,  and 
make  an  end  of  controversy  on  that  subject :  yet, 
in  1854,  it  was  insisted  by  the  friends  and  sup 
porters  of  the  laws  of  1850,  and  it  is  actually  as- 
prize,  the  reward  of  everlasting  liberty  and  its  serted  in  the  law  establishing  the  territorial  gov- 
inntitufcimM  mi  thp.  OUR  hand,  or  the  neruetuitv  I  eminent  of  Kansas,  that  the  laws  tor  JNew-Mexico 

and  Utah,  being  of  the  Compromise  Measures, 


only 

Provided,  That  nothing  herein  contained  shall 
be  construed  to  revive  or  put  in  force  any  law 
or  regulation  which  may  have  existed  prior  to 
the  act  of  6th  March,  1820,  either  protecting,  es 
tablishing,  prohibiting,  or  abolishing  Slavery." 

Thus  it  was  promulgated  to  the  people  of  this 
whole  country  that  here  was  a  clear  field  for 
competition — an  open  course  for  the  race  of 
rivulship  ;  the  goal  of  which  was,  the  ultimate 
establishment  of  a  sovereign  State ;  and  the 


institutions  on  the  one  hand,  or  the  perpetuity 
of  Slavery  and  its  concomitants  on  the  other. 


ot  slavery  and  its  concomitants  on  me  outer.    «•"«  omu,  ueui^  <jj 

It  is  the  obvious  duty  of  this  government,  while  adopt  and  contain  a  principle  utterly  at  war  with 
this  law  continues,  to  see  this  manifesto  faith-  their  great  and  professed  object  of  finality  ;  and 
fully,  and  honorably,  and  honestly  performed,  that,  instead  of  completing  and  ending  tue  proyi- 
eveii  though  its  particular  supporters  may  i  sions  of  congressional  action  for  the  Territories 


112 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  SLAVERY  RESTRICTION. 


as  to  Slavery,  it  really  declared  a  principle  which 
unsettled  all  those  where  Slavery  had  been  pro 
hibited,  and  rendered  it  proper,  a'nd  only  proper, 
to  declare  such  prohibitions  all  "  inoperative  and 
void."  The  spirit  and  feeling  which  thus  per 
verted  those  Compromise  laws,  and  made  them 
the  direct  instrument  of  renewed  disturbance, 
could  not  be  expected  then  to  leave  the  result  to 
the  decision  of  the  people  of  Kansas  with  entire 
inactivity  and  indifference. 

The  slaveholding  States,  in  1820,  secured  the 
admission  of  Missouri  as  a  slaveholding  State, 
and  all  the  region  south  of  36°  30'  to  the  same 
purpose,  by  agreeing  and  enacting  that  all  north 
of  that  line  sliould  be  forever  free  ;  and  by  this 
they  obtained  only  a  sufficient  number  of  votes 
from  the  Free  States,  as  counted  with  theirs,  to 
adopt  it.  In  1850,  they  agreed  that  if  New-Mexico 
and  Utah  were  made  Territories,  without  a  pro 
hibition  of  Slavery,  it  would,  with  the  laws  al 
ready  made  for  the  rest  of  our  territory,  settle 
forever  the  whole  subject.  This  proposition,  for 
such  a  termination,  also  secured  votes  from  the 
Free  States,  enough,  with  their  own  from  the 
slaveholding  States,  to  adopt  it.  In  1854,  in  utter 
disregard  of  these  repeated  contracts,  both  these 
arrangements  were  broken,  and  both  these  com 
promises  disregarded,  and  all  their  provisions  for 
freedom  declared  inoperative  and  void,  by  the 
vote  of  the  slaveholding  States,  with  a  very  few 
honorable  exceptions,  and  a  minority  of  the  votes 
of  the  Free  States.  After  this  extraordinary  and 
inexcusable  proceeding,  it  was  not  to  be  expected 
that  the  people  of  the  slaveholding  States  would 
take  no  active  measures  to  secure  a  favorable 
result  by  votes  in  the  Territory  of  Kansas.  Nei 
ther  could  it  be  expected  that  the  people  of  the 
Free  States,  who  regarded  the  act  of  1854  as  a 
double  breach  of  faith,  would  sit  down  and  make 
no  effort,  by  legal  means,  to  correct  it. 

It  has  been  said  that  the  repeal  of  this  provision 
of  the  Missouri  Compromise,  and  breach  of  the 
Compromise  of  1850,  should  not  be  regarded  as  a 
measure  of  the  slaveholding  States,  because  it 
was  presented  by  a  Senator  from  a  Free  State. 

The  actions  or  votes  of  one  or  more  individual 
men  cannot  give  character  to,  or  be  regarded  as 
fixing  a  measure  on,  their  section  or  party.  The 
only  true  or  honest  mode  of  determining  whether 
any  measure  is  that  of  any  section  or  party  is,  to 
ascertain  whether  the  majority  of  that  section  or 
party  voted  for  it.  Now,  a  large  majority — in 
deed,  the  whole,  with  a  few  rare  exceptions — of 
the  representatives  from  the  slaveholding  States 
voted  for  that  repeal.  On  the  other  hand,  a  ma 
jority  of  the  representatives  from  the  Free  States 
voted  against  it. 

This  subject  of  Slavery  in  the  Territories, 
which  has  violently  agitated  the  country  for 
many  years,  and  which  has  been  attempted  to  be 
settled  twice  by  compromise,  as  before  stated, 
does  not  remain  settled.  The  Missouri  Com 
promise  and  the  supposed  finality  by  the  acts  of 
1850,  are  scattered  and  dissolved  by  the  vote  of 
the  slaveholding  States  ;  and  it  is  not  to  be  dis 
guised  that  this  uncalled  for  and  disturbing  meas 
ure  has  produced  a  spirit  of  resentment,  from  a 
feeling  of  its  injustice,  which,  while  the  cause 
continues,  will  be  difficult  to  allay. 

This  subject,  then,  which  Congress  has  been 
unable  to  settle  in  any  such  way  as  the  Slave 
States  will  sustain,  is  now  turned  over  to  those 
who  have  or  shall  become  inhabitants  of  Kansas 
to  arrange  ;  and  all  men  are  invited  to  partici 
pate  in  the  experiment,  regardless  of  their  charac 
ter,  political  or  religious  views,  or  place  of  na 
tivity. 

Now,  what  is  the  right  and  tho  ditty  of  the 
people  of  this  country  in  relation  to  this  matter  ? 
Is  it  not  the  right  of  all  who  believe  in  the  bless 
ings  of  slaveholding,  and  regard  it  as  the  best 


condition  of  society,  either  to  go  to  Kansas  as  in 
habitants,  and  by  their  votes  to  help  settle  this 
good  condition  of  that  Territory  ;  or  if  they  can 
not  so  go  and  settle,  is  it  not  their  duty,  by  all  law 
ful  means  in  their  power,  to  promote  this  object 
by  inducing  others  like-minded  to  go  ?  I'his 
right  becomes  a  duty  to  all  who  follow  their  con 
victions.  All  who  regard  an  establishment  of 
Slavery  in  Kansas  as  best  for  that  Territory,  or 
as  necessary  to  their  own  safety  by  the  political 
weight  it  gives  in  the  national  government, 
should  use  all  lawful  means  to  secure  that  result ; 
and  clearly,  the  inducing  men  to  go  there  to  be 
come  permanent  inhabitants  and  voters,  and  to 
vote  as  often  as  the  elections  occur  in  favor  of 
the  establishment  of  Slavery,  and  thus  control 
the  elections,  and  preserve  it  a  Slave  State  for 
ever,  is  neither  unlawful  nor  censurable.  It  is, 
and  would  be  highly  praiseworthy  and  commenda 
ble,  because  it  is  using  lawful  means  to  carry  for 
ward  honest  convictions  of  public  good.  All  law 
fully-associated  effort  to  that  end  is  equally 
commendable.  Nor  will  the  application  of  op 
probrious  epithets,  and  calling  it  propagandism, 
change  its  moral  or  legal  character  from  whatever 
quarter  or  source,  official  or  otherwise,  such  epi 
thets  may  come.  Neither  should  they  deter  any 
man  from  peaceably  performing  his  duty  by  fol 
lowing  his  honest  convictions. 

On  the  other  hand,  all  those  who  have  seen  and 
realized  the  blessings  of  universal  liberty,  and  be 
lieve  that  it  can  only  be  secured  and  promoted  by 
the  prohibition  of  domestic  Slavery,  and  that  the 
elevation  of  honest  industry  can  never  succeed 
where  servitude  makes  labor  degrading,  should, 
as  in  duty  bound,  put  forth  all  reasonable  exer 
tions  to  advance  this  great  object,  by  1,-iwful 
means,  whenever  permitted  by  laws  of  their  coun 
try.  When,  therefore,  Kansas  was  presented, 
by  law,  as  an  open  field  for  this  experiment,  and 
all  were  invited  to  enter,  it  became  the  right  and 
duty  of  all  such  as  desired,  to  go  there  as  inhabit 
ants  for  the  purpose,  by  their  numbers  and  by  their 
votes  lawfully  cast,  from  time  to  time,  to  carry  or 
control,  in  a  legal  way,  the  elections  there  for 
this  object.  This  could  only  be  lawfully  effected 
I  by  permanent  residence,  and  continued  and  re 
peated  effort,  during  the  continuance  of  the  Ter 
ritorial  government,  and  permanently  remaining 
there  to  form  and  preserve  a  Free-State  constitu 
tion.  All  those  who  entertained  the  same  senti 
ments,  but  were  not  disposed  themselves  to  go, 
had  the  right  and  duty  to  use  all  lawful  means  to 
encourage  and  promote  the  object.  If  the  pur 
pose  could  be  best  effected  by  united  efforts,  by 
voluntary  associations  or  corporations,  or  by 
State  assistance,  as  proposed  in  some  Southern 
States,  it  was  all  equally  lawful  and  laudable. 
This  was  not  the  officious  intermeddling  with  the 
internal  affairs  of  another  nation,  or  State,  or  the 
Territory  of  another  people.  The  Territory  is 
the  property  of  the  nation,  and  is,  professedly, 
open  to  the  settlement  and  the  institutions  of 
every  part  of  the  United-*States.  If  lawful  means, 
so  extensive  as  to  be  effectual,  were  used  to  peo 
ple  it  with  a  majority  of  inhabitants  opposed  to 
Slavery,  is  now  considered  as  a  violation  of,  or 
an  opposition  to,  the  law  establishing  the  Terri 
tory,  then  the  declarations  and  provisions  of  that 
law  were  but  a  premeditated  delusion,  which  not 
only  allowed  such  measures,  but  actually  invited 
them,  by  enacting  that  the  largest  number  of  the 
settlers  should  determine  the  condition  of  the 
country;  thus  inviting  efforts  for  numbers.  Such 
an  invitation  must  have  been  expected  to  pro 
duce  such  efforts  on  both  sides. 

It  now  becomes  necessary  to  inquire  what  has 
in  fact  taken  place.  If  violence  has  taken  place 
as  the  natural,  and,  perhaps,  unavoidable,  conse 
quences  of  the  nature  oi'the  experiment,  bringing 
into  dangerous  contact  and  collision  inflamma- 


THE  KANSAS-NEBRASKA   STRUGGLE. 


113 


ble  elements,  it  was  the  vice  of  a  mistaken  law, 
and  immediate  measures  should  be  taken  by 
Congress  to  correct  such  law.  If  force  and  vio 
lence  have  been  substituted  for  peaceful  meas 
ures  there,  legal  provisions  should  be  made  and 
executed  to  correct  all  the  wrong  such  violence 
has  produced,  and  to  prevent  their  recurrence, 
and  thus  secure  a  fair  fulfillment  of  the  experi 
ment  by  peaceful  means,  as  originally  professed 
and  presented  in  the  law. 

A  succinct  statement  of  the  exercise  and  pro 
gress  of  the  material  events  in  Kansas  is  this  : 
After  the  passage  of  this  law,  establishing  the 
Territory  of  Kansas,  a  large  body  of  settlers  rap 
idly  entered  into  said  Territory  with  a  view  to 
permanent  inhabitancy  therein.  Most  of  these 
were  from  the  Free-States  of  the  West  and  North, 
who  probably  intended  by  their  votes  and  influ 
ence  to  establish  there  a  Free  State,  agreeable  to 
the  law  which  invited  them.  Some  part  of  those 
from  the  Northern  States  had  been  encouraged 
and  aided  in  this  enterprise  by  the  Emigrant  Aid 
Society  formed  in  Massachusetts,  which  put 
forth  some  exertions  in  this  laudable  object,  by 
open  and  public  measures,  in  providing  facilities 
for  transportation  to  all  peaceable  citizens  who 
desired  to  become  permanent  settlers  in  said  Ter 
ritory,  and  providing  therein  hotels,  mills,  etc., 
for  the  public  accommodation  of  that  new  coun 
try. 

The  governor  of  Kansas,  having,  in  pursuance 
of  law,  divided  the  Territory  into  districts,  and 
procured  a  census  thereof,  issued  his  proclama 
tion  for  the  election  of  a  legislative  assembly 
therein,  to  take  place  on  the  30th  day  of  March, 
1855,  and  directed  how  the  same  should  be  con 
ducted,  and  the  returns  made  to  him  agreeable 
to  the  law  establishing  said  Territory.  On  the 
day  of  election,  large  bodies  of  armed  men  from 
the  State  of  Missouri  appeared  at  the  polls  in 
most  of  the  districts,  and  by  most  violent  and  tu 
multuous  carriage  and  demeanor  overawed  the 
defenseless  inhabitants,  and  by  their  own  votes 
elected  a  large  majority  of  the  members  of  both 
houses  of  said  assembly.  On  the  returns  of  said 
election  being  made  to  the  governor,  protests 
and  objections  were  made  to  him  in  relation  to 
a  part  of  said  districts ;  and  as  to  them,  he  set 
aside  such,  and  such  only,  as  by  the  returns  ap 
peared  to  be  bad.  In  relation  to  others,  cover 
ing,  in  all,  a  majority  of  the  two  houses,  equally 
vicious  in  fact,  but  apparently  good  by  formal 
returns,  the  inhabitants  thereof,  borne  down  by 
said  violence  and  intimidation,  scattered  and  dis 
couraged,  and  laboring  under  apprehensions  of 
personal  violence,  refrained  and  desisted  from 
presenting  any  protest  to  the  governor  in  rela 
tion  thereto  ;  and  he,  then  uninformed  in  relation 
thereto,  issued  certificates  to  the  members  who 
appeared  by  said  formal  returns  to  have  been 
elected. 

In  relation  to  those  districts  which  the  govern 
or  so  set  aside,  orders  were  by  him  issued  for 
new  elections.  In  one  of  these  districts  the  same 
proceedings  were  repeated  by  men  from  Missou 
ri,  and  in  others  not,  and  certificates  were  issued 
to  the  persons  elected. 

This  legislative  assembly,  so  elected,  assem 
bled  at  Pawnee,  on  the  second  day  of  July,  1855, 
that  being  the  time  and  place  for  holding  said 
meeting,  as  fixed  by  the  governor,  by  authority 
of  law.  On  assembling,  the  said  houses  pro 
ceeded  to  set  aside  and  reject  those  members 
so  elected  on  said  second  election,  except  in 
the  district  where  the  men  from  Missouri  had, 
at  said  election,  chosen  the  same  persons  they 
had  elected  at  the  said  first  election,  and  they 
admitted  all  of  the  said  first-elected  members. 

A  legislative  assembly,  so  created  by  military 
force,  by  a  foreign  invasion,  in  violation  of  the 
organic  law,  was  but  a  usurpation.  No  act  of 
8 


its  own,  no  act  or  neglect  of  the  governor,  could 
legalize  or  sanctify  it.  Its  own  decisions  as  to 
its  own  legality  are  like  its  laws,  but  the  fruits 
of  its  own  usurpation,  which  no  governor  could 
legitimate. 

They  passed  an  act  altering  the  place  of  the 
temporary  seat  of  government  to  the  Shawnee 
Mission,  on  the  border  of,  and  in  near  proximity 
to,  Missouri.  This  act  the  governor  regarded  as 
a  violation  of  the  organic  law  establishing  the 
Territory,  which  fixed  the  temporary  seat  of 
government,  and  prohibited  the  legislative  as 
sembly  from  doing  anything  inconsistent  with 
said  act.  He,  therefore,  and  for  that  cause, 
vetoed  said  bill ;  but  said  assembly  repassed 
the  same  by  a  two-thirds  majority,  notwithstand 
ing  said  veto,  and  removed  to  said  Shawnee 
Mission.  They  then  proceeded  to  pass  laws, 
and  the  governor,  in  writing,  declined  further 
to  recognize  them  as  a  legitimate  assembly,  sit 
ting  at  that  place.  They  continued  passing 
laws  there,  from  the  10th  day  of  July  to  the 
31st  day  of  August,  1855. 

On  the  15th  day  of  August  last,  the  governor 
of  said  Territory  was  dismissed  from  office,  and 
the  duties  devolved  upon  the  secretary  of  the 
Territory ;  and  how  many  of  the  laws  passed 
with  his  official  approbation  does  not  appear, 
the  laws  as  now  presented  being  without  date 
or  authentication. 

As  by  the  law  of  Congress  organizing  said 
Territory  it  was  expressly  provided,  that  the 
people  of  the  Territory  were  to  be  "  left  perfect 
ly  free  to  form  and  regulate  their  domestic  in 
stitutions  in  their  own  way,"  and  among  these 
institutions  Slavery  is  included,  it  was,  of  course, 
implied  that  that  subject  was  to  be  open  and 
free  to  public  and  private  discussion  in  all  its 
bearings,  rights,  and  relationships.  Among 
these  must,  of  course,  be  the  question,  What 
was  the  state  of  the  existing  lams,  and  the  modi 
fications  that  might  be  required  on  that  subject? 
The  law  had  declared  that  its  "  true  intent  and 
meaning  was  not  to  legislate  Slavery  into  the 
Territory,  or  exclude  it  therefrom."  This  would, 
of  course,  leave  to  that  people  the  inquiry, 
What,  then,  are  the  existing  rights  under  the 
Constitution  ?  Can  slaves  be  holden  in  the  ab 
sence  of  any  law  on  the  subject  ?  This  question, 
about  which  so  much  difference  of  opinion  ex 
ists,  and  which  Congress  and  the  courts  have 
never  settled,  was  thus  turned  over  to  the  peo 
ple  there,  to  discuss  and  settle  for  themselves. 

This  territorial  legislature,  so  created  by 
force  from  Missouri,  utterly  refused  to  permit 
discussion  on  the  subject ;  but,  assuming  that 
Slavery  already  existed  there,  and  that  neither 
Congress  nor  the  people  in  the  Territory,  under 
the  authority  of  Congress,  had  or  could  prohibit 
it,  passed  a  law  which,  if  enforced,  utterly  pro 
hibits  all  discussion  of  the  question.  The  elev 
enth  and  twelfth  sections  of  that  act  are  as  fol 
lows  : 

"SEC.  11.  If  any  person  print,  write,  introduce  into, 
publish  or  circulate,  or  cause  to  be  brought  into, 
printed,  written,  published  or  circulated,  or  shall 
knowingly  aid  or  assist  in  bringing  into,  printing, 
publishing  or  circulating  within  this  Territory,  any 
bonk,  paper,  pamphlet,  magazine,  hand-bill  or  circular, 
containing  any  statements,  arguments,  opinions, 
sentiments,  doctrines,  advice  or  innuendo,  calculated 
to  promote  a  disorderly,  dangerous  or  rebellious  dis 
affection  among  the  slaves  in  this  Territory,  or  to 
induce  such  slaves  to  escape  from  the  service  of  their 
masters  or  to  resist  their  authority,  he  shall  be  guilty 
of  a  felony,  and  be  punished  by  impri>onmeut  and 
hard  labor  for  a  term  not  less  than  five  yeara. 

"SRC.  12.  If  any  free  person,  by  speaking  or  by 
writing,  assert  or  maintain  that  persons  hare  not  the 
right  to  hold  slaves  in  this  Territory,  or  shall  intro 
duce  into  this  Territory,  print,  publisn,  write,  circu 
late,  or  cause  to  be  introduced  into  this  Territory, 
written,  printed,  published  or  circulated  in  this  Ter- 


114 


THE   STRUGGLE   FOR   SLAVERY   RESTRICTION. 


ritory,  any  book,  paper,  magazine,  pamphlet  or  circu 
lar,  containing  any  denial  of  the  right  of  persons  to 
hold  slaves  in  this  Territory,  such  person  shall  be 
deemed  guilty  of  felony,  and  punished  by  imprison 
ment  at  hard  labor  for  a  term  of  not  less  than  two 
years." 

Arid  further  providing,  that  no  person  "  con 
scientiously  opposed  to  holding  slaves"  shall  sit 
as  a  juror  in  the  trial  of  any  cause  founded  on  a 
breach  of  the  foregoing  law.  They  further  pro 
vided,  that  all  officers  and  attorneys  should  be 
sworn  not  only  to  support  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  but  also  to  support  and  sustain 
the  organic  law  of  the  Territory,  and  the  fugi 
tive-slave  laws ;  and  that  any  person  offering  to 
vote  shall  be  presumed  to  *be  entitled  to  vote 
until  the  contrary  is  shown,  and  if  any  one, 
when  required,  shall  refuse  to  take  oath  to  sus 
tain  the  fugitive-slave  laws,  he  shall  not  be  per 
mitted  to  vote.  Although  they  passed  a  law 
that  none  but  an  inhabitant,  who  had  paid  a  tax, 
should  vote,  yet  they  required  no  time,  of  resi 
dence  necessary,  and  provided  for  the  immediate 
payment  of  a  poll-tax ;  so  providing,  in  effect, 
that  on  the  eve  of  an  election  the  people  of  a 
neighboring  State  could  come  in.  in  unlimited 
numbers,  and,  by  taking  up  a  residence  of  a  day 
or  an  hour,  pay  a  poll-tax,  and  thus  become 
legal  voters,  and  then,  after  voting,  return  to 
their  own  State.  They  thus,  in  practical  effect, 
provided  for  the  people  of  Missouri  to  control 
elections  at  their  pleasure,  and  permitted  such 
only  of  the  real  inhabitants  of  the  Territory  to 
vote  as  are  friendly  to  the  holding  of  slaves. 

They  permitted  no  election  of  any  of  the  offi 
cers  in  the  Territory  to  be  made  by  the  people 
thereof,  but  created  the  offices  and  filled  them, 
or  appointed  officers  to  fill  them  for  long  periods, 
and  provided  that  the  next  annual  election  should 
be  holden  in  October,  1856,  and  the  assembly  to 
meet  in  January,  1857  ;  so  that  none  of  these 
laws  could  be  changed  until  the  lower  house 
might  be  changed,  in  1856  ;  but  the  council, 
which  is  elected  for  two  years,  could  not  be 
changed  so  as  to  allow  a  change  of  the  laws  or 
officers  until  the  session  of  1858,  however  much 
the  inhabitants  of  the  Territory  might  desire  it. 

These  laws,  made  by  an  assembly  created  by 
a  foreign  force,  are  but  a  manifestation  of  the 
spirit  of  oppression  which  was  the  parent  of  the 
whole  transaction.  No  excuse  can  be  found  for 
it  in  the  pretense  that  the  inhabitants  had  carried 
with  them  into  said  Territory  a  quantity  of 
Sharp's  rifles — first,  because  that,  if  true,  formed 
no  excuse ;  secondly,  it  is  untrue,  as  their 
Sharp's  rifles  were  only  obtained  afterwards, 
and  entirely  for  the  purpose  of  self-defense,  the 
necessity  for  which,  this  invasion  and  other  acts 
of  violence  and  threats  clearly  demonstrated. 
These  laws  were  obviously  made  to  oppress  and 
drive  out  all  who  were  inclined  to  the  exclusion 
of  Slavery  ;  and  if  they  remained,  to  silence  them 
on  this  subject,  and  subject  them  to  the  will  and 
control  of  the  people  of  Missouri.  These  are  the 
laws  which  the  President  says  must  be  enforced 
by  the  army  and  the  whole  power  of  this  nation. 
The  people  of  Kansas,  thus  invaded,  subdued, 
oppressed,  and  insulted,  seeing  their  territorial 
government  (such  only  in  form)  perverted  into 
an  engine  to  crush  them  in  the  dust,  and  to  de 
feat  and  destroy  the  professed  object  of  their  or 
ganic  law,  by  depriving  them  of  the  "perfect 
freedom''  therein  provided ;  and  finding  no 
ground  to  hope  for  rights  in  that  organization, 
they  proceeded,  under  the  guaranty  of  the 
United  States  Constitution,  "  peaceably  to  as 
semble  to  petition  the  government  for  the  re 
dress  of  (their)  grievances."  They  saw  no 
earthly  source  of  relief  but  in  the  formation  of  a 
State  government  by  the  people,  and  the  accept 
ance  and  ratification  thereof  by  Congress. 
It  is  true  that  in  several  instances  in  our  po 


litical  history,  the  people  of  a  Territory  hare 
been  authorized  by  an  act  of  Congress  to  form 
a  State  constitution,  and  after  so  doing,  were 
admitted  by  Congress.  It  is  quite  obvious  that 
no  such  authority  could  be  given  by  the  act  of 
the  territorial  government.  That  clearly  has  no 
power  to  create  another  government,  paramount 
to  itself.  It  is  equally  true,  that,  in  numerous 
instances  in  our  history,  the  people  of  a  Territo 
ry  have,  without  any  previous  act  of  Congress, 
proceeded  to  call  a  convention  of  the  people  by 
their  delegates  ;  have  formed  a  State  constitu 
tion,  which  has  been  adopted  by  the  people, 
and  a  State  legislature  assembled  under  it,  and 
chosen  Senators  to  Congress,  and  then  have 
presented  said  constitution  to  Congress,  who  has 
approved  the  same,  and  received  the  senators 
and  members  of  Congress  who  were  chosen  un 
der  it  before  Congress  had  approved  the  same. 
Such  was  the  case  of  Tennessee  ;  such  was  the 
case  of  Michigan,  where  the  people  not  only 
formed  a  State  constitution  without  an  act  of 
Congress,  but  they  actually  put  their  State  gov 
ernment  into  full  operation  and  passed  laws,  and 
it  was  approved  by  Congress  by  receiving  it  as 
a  State.  The  people  of  Florida  formed  their 
constitution  without  any  act  of  Congress  there 
for,  six  years  before  they  were  admitted  into  the 
Union.  When  the  people  of  Arkansas  were 
about  forming  a  State  constitution  without  a  pre 
vious  act  of  Congress,  in  1835,  the  territorial 
governor  applied  to  the  President  on  the  subject, 
who  referred  the  matter  to  the  Attorney-Gene 
ral,  and  his  opinion,  as  then  expressed  and  pub 
lished,  contained  the  following  : 

"  It  is  not  in  the  power  of  the  general  assembly  of 
Arkansas  to  pass  any  law  for  the  purpose  of  electing 
members  to  a  convention  to  form  a  Constitution  and 
State  government,  nor  to  do  any  other  act,  directly 
or  indirectly,  to  create  such  government.  Every  such 
law,  even  though  it  were  approved  by  the  governor  of 
the  Territory,  would  be  null  and  void  ;  if  passed  by 
them  notwithstanding  his  veto,  by  a  vote  <  f  two- 
thirds  of  each  branch,  it  would  still  be  equally  void." 

He  further  decided  that  it  was  not  rebellious 
or  insurrectionary,  or  even  unlawful,  for  the 
people  peaceably  to  proceed,  even  without  an 
act  of  Congress,  in  forming  a  constitution,  and 
that  the  so  forming  a  State  constitution,  and  so 
far  organizing  under  the  same  as  to  choose  the 
officers  necessary  for  its  representation  in  Con 
gress,  with  a  view  to  present  the  same  to  Con 
gress  for  admission,  was  a  power  which  fell 
clearly  within  the  right  of  the  people  to  assem 
ble  and  petition  for  redress.  The  people  of 
Arkansas  proceeded  without  an  act  of  Congress, 
and  were  received  into  the  Union  accordingly. 
If  any  rights  were  derived  to  the  people  of  Ar 
kansas  from  the  terms  of  the  French  treaty  of 
cession,  they  equally  extended  to  the  people  of 
Kansas,  it  being  a  part  of  the  same  cession. 

In  this  view  of  the  subject,  in  the  first  part  of 
August,  1855,  a  call  was  published  in  the  public 
papers  for  a  meeting  of  the  citizens  of  Kansas, 
irrespective  of  party,  to  meet  at  Lawrence,  in 
said  Territory,  on  the  15th  of  said  August,  to 
take  into  consideration  the  propriety  of  calling 
a  convention  of  the  people  of  the  whole  Territo 
ry,  to  consider  that  subject.  That  meeting  was 
held  on  the  15th  day  of  August  last,  and  it  pro 
ceeded  to  call  such  convention  of  delegates  to 
be  elected,  and  to  assemble  at  Topeka,  in  said 
Territory,  on  the  19th  day  of  September,  1855, 
not  to  form  a  constitution,  but  to  consider  the 
propriety  of  calling,  formally,  a  convention  for 
that  purpose.  The  proceedings  of  this  meeting 
of  the  15th  of  August  were  as  follows  : 

State  Constitution. 
"  LAWRENCE,  KANSAS  TERRITORY, 

August  15, 1855. 
"  Pursuant  to  a  published  call,  signed  '  Many  Citi- 


THE  KANSAS-NEBRASKA  STRUGGLE. 


115 


sens,'  '  to  take  into  consideration  the  propriety  of 
calling  a  Territorial  convention,  preliminary  to  the 
formation  of  a  Mate  government,  and  other  subjects 
of  public  interest,'  a  convention  of  the  citizeus  of 
Kansas  Territ"ry,  irrespective  of  party,  met.  and  upon 
motion  of  C.  K  Hollidav,  Dr.  A.  Hunting  was  called  to 
the  chair,  G.  W.  Brown,  E.  D.  Ladd,  C.  E.  Blood,  L  P. 
Lincoln,  James  Christian,  and  Dr.  J.  D.  Barnes  elect 
ed  vice-presidents,  and  J.  K.  Goodm,  and  J.  P.  Fox, 
secretaries. 

"  On  motion  of  J.  Hutchinsoti.  esq.,  a  committee  of 
five  were  appointed  to  prepare  busings  for  the  conven 
tion.  Messrs.  G.  W.  Smith,  C.  K.  Holliday,  C.  Robin 
son,  John  Brown,  jr.,  and  A.  F.  Powell  were  chosen 
that  committee.  • 

"  During  the  absence  of  the  committee,  the  conven 
tion  was  addressed  by  Rev.  —  Lovejoy,  G.  W.  Brown,  J. 
Hutchinson,  and  M.  F.  Con  way.  After  which,  Mr.  G. 
W.  Smith,  chairman,  submitted  the  following  as  the 
report  of  the  committee  : 

"  Whereas  the  pwople  of  Kansas  Territory  have 
been,  since  its  settlement,  and  now  are,  without  any 
law-making  power  ;  threfore,  be  it 

Resolved,  That  we,  the  people  of  Kansas  Territory 
in  mass  meeting  assembled,  irrespective  of  party  dis 
tinction*,  influenced  by  a  lommon  necessity,  and 
greatly  desirous  of  promoting  the  common  good,  do 
hereby  call  upon  and  request  all  bonafidt.  citizens  of 
Kansas  Territory,  of  whatever  political  views  or  predi 
lections,  to  consult  together  in  their  respective  elec 
tion-districts,  and  in  mass  convention,  or  otherwise, 
elect  three  delegates  for  each  representative  to  which 
such  district  is  entitled  in  the  House  of  Representa 
tives  of  the  the  legislative  assembly,  by  proclamation 
of  Governor  Reeder  of  date  10th  March,  1855 ;  said 
delegates  to  assemble  in  conven'ion  at  the  town  of 
Topeka,  on  the  19th  day  of  September.  1855,  then  and 
there  to  consider  and  determine  upon  all  subjects  of 
public  interest,  and  particularly  upon  that  having  ref 
erence  to  the  speedy  formation  «>f  a  State  constitu 
tion,  with  an  intention  of  an  immediate  application  to 
be  admitted  as  a  State  into  the  Union  of  the  '  United 
States  of  America.' 

"  After  the  discussion  of  the  resolution  by  Mr. 
Stearns  and  others,  the  report  of  the  committee  was 
adopted  with  but  one  dissenting  voice. 

"  On  motion,  it  was  ordered  that  the  proceedings  of 
this  convention  be  published  in  the  newspapers  of  the 
Territory,  and  Messrs.  J.  Speer,  R.  G.  Elliot,  and  G. 
W.  Brown,  were  appointed  a  committee  to  publish  aud 
circulate  the  call  lor  the  convention  to  be  holdeu  at 
Topeka. 

"  OQ  motion,  the  convention  adjourned  sine  die. 

"  A.  HUNTING,  President. 
"  G.  W.  BROWN, 
E.  D   LADD, 
C.E.  BLOOD, 
L.  P.  LINCOLN, 
JAS.  CHRISTIAN, 
J.  D.  BARNES, 

Vice- Presidents, 

"  J.  K.  GOOOIN, 
J.  P   Fox, 

Secretaries." 

Agreeable  to  these  proceedings,  the  people  of 
the  different  districts  did,  as  therein  recommend 
ed  ,proceed  to  appoint  delegates  to  this  meeting 
at  Topeka,  to  be  holden  on  said  19th  day  of  Sep 
tember,  1855.  The  delegates  so  appointed  did 
assemble  at  Topeka  on  said  day,  and  proceeded 
to  consider  said  subject,  and  they  took  the  fol 
lowing  proceedings  : 

"  Proceedings  of  the  State  Constitutional  Convention, 
he'd  at  Topeka,  Kansas  Territory,  September  19-20, 
1855. 

"Whereas  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States 
guarantees  to  the  people  of  this  republic  the  right  of 
assembling  together  in  a  peaceable  manner  for  the 
common  good,  to  '  establish  justice,  insure  domestic 
tranquillity,  provide  for  the  common  defense,  promote 
the  general  welfare,  and  secure  the  blessings  of  liber 
ty  to  themselves  and  their  posterity,'  and  whereas 
the  citizens  of  Kansas  Territory  were  prevented  from 
electing  members  of  a  legislative  sembly,  in  pursuance 
of  the  proclamation  of  Governor  Reeder,  on  the  30th 
of  March  lust,  by  invading  forces  from  foreign  States 
coming  into  the  Territory  and  forcing  upon  the  peo- 
)le  a  legislature  of  non-residents  and  others,  inimical 
"  interests  of  the  people  of  Kansas  Territory,  de- 


pie  a  le 
to  the : 


I  feating  the  object  of  the  organic  act,  in  consequence 
|  of  which  the  Territorial  government  became  a  perfect 
failure,  and  the  people  were  left  without  any  legal 
government  until  their  patience  has  bec»me  exhaust 
ed,  and  '  endurance  ceases  t"  be  a  virtue;'  and  they 
are  compelled  to  resort  to  the  only  remedy  left—  that 
of  forming  a  government  for  themselves  ;  therefore, 

"  Resolved  by  the  people  itf  Kansas  Territory  in  dele 
gate  convention  assembled.  That  an  election  shall  be 
held  in  the  several  election  precincts  of  this  Territory 
on  the  second  Tuesday  of  October  next,  under  the 
regulations  and  restrictions  hereinafter  imposed,  for 
members  of  a  convention  to  form  a  constitution, 
adopt  a  bill  of  rights  for  the  people  of  Kansas,  and 
take  all  needful  measures  for  organizing  a  State  gov 
ernment  preparatory  to  the  admission  of  Kansas  into 
the  Union  as  a  State. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  apportionment  of  delegates  to 
said  convention  shall  be  as  follows  :  two  delegates 
for  each  representative  to  which  the  people  were  enti 
tled  in  the  legislative  assembly  by  proclamation  of 
Governor  Reeder,  of  date  10th  March.  1855. 

"  Resolved,  That  a  committee  of  seven  be  appointed 
by  the  chair,  who  shall  organize  by  the  appointment 
of  a  chairman  and  secretary.  Tliey  shall  keep  a  re 
cord  of  their  proceedings,  and  shall  have  the  general 
superintendence  of  the  affairs  of  the  Territory  so  far 
as  regards  the  organization  of  a  State  government, 
which  committee  shall  be  styled  '  the  executive  com 
mittee  of  Kansas  Territory.' 

''  Resolved,  That  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  execu 
tive  committee  of  Kansas  Territory  to  advertise  said 
election  at  least  fifteen  days  before  the  second  Tues 
day  of  October  next;  and  to  appoint  three  judges 
thereof  for  each  precinct,  and  the  said  judges  of  each 
precinct  shall  appoint  two  clerks,  all  of  whom  shall 
be  duly  sworn  or  affirmed  to  discharge  the  duties  of 
their  respective  offices  impartially,  and  with  fidelity  ; 
and  they  shall  have  power  to  administer  the  oath  or 
affirmation  to  each  other,  and  the  said  judges  shall 
open  said  election  at  10  o'clock  A.  M..  at  the  place 
designated  in  each  precinct  by  the  said  executive 
committee,  and  close  the  same  at  4  o'clock  p.  M.  And 
in  case  any  of  the  officers  appointed  fail  to  attend, 
the  officer  or  officers  in  attendance  shall  supply  the 
vacancy  or  vacancies ;  and  in  the  event  of  all  of  them 
failing  to  attend,  ten  qualified  voters  shall  supply 
their  places.  And  the  said  judges  shall  make  out 
duplicate  returns  of  said  election,  seal  up.  and  trans 
mit  one  copy  of  the  same  within  five  days,  to  the 
chairman  of  the  executive  committee,  to  be  laid  be 
fore  the  convention,  and  they  shall,  within  ten  days, 
seal  up  and  hand  the  other  to  some  member  of  the 
executive  committee. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  chairman  of  the  executive  com 
mittee  of  Kansas  Territory  shall  announce,  by  pro 
clamation,  the  names  of  the  persons  elected  delegates 
to  the  said  convention  ;  and  in  case  the  returns  from 
any  precinct  should  not  be  completed  by  that  day,  as 
soon  thereafter  as  practicable  ;  and  in  case  of  a  tie,  a 
new  election  shall  be  ordered  by  the  executive  com 
mittee,  giving  five  days'  notice  thereof,  by  the  same 
officers  who  officiated  at  the  first  election. 

"  Resolved,  That  all  white  male  inhabitants,  citizens 
of  the  United  States,  above  the  age  of  twenty-one 
years,  who  have  had  a  bona  fi.de  residence  in  the  Ter 
ritory  of  Kansas  for  the  space  of  thirty  days  imme 
diately  preceding  the  day  of  said  election,  shall  be 
entitled  to  vote  for  delegates  to  said  convention  ;  and 
all  white  male  inhabitants,  citizens  of  the  United 
States,  above  the  age  of  twenty-oue  years,  who  -have 
resided  in  the  Territory  of  Kansas  for  the  space  of 
three  months  immediately  preceding  the  day  of 
election,  shall  be  eligible  as  delegates  to  said  con 
vention. 

'- Resolved,  That  if  at  the  time  of  holding  said  election 
it  shall  be  inconvenient,  on  account  of  Indian  hostili 
ties  or  any  other  cause  whatever  that  would  disturb 
or  prevent  the  voters  of  any  election-precinct  in  the 
Territory  from  the  free  and  peaceable  exercise  of  the 
elective  franchise,  the  officers  are  hereby  authorized 
to  adjourn  said  election  into  any  other  precinct  in  the 
Territory,  and  to  any  other  day  they  may  see  proper, 
of  the  necessity  of  which  the.y  shall  be  the  exclusive 
judges,  at  which  time  and  place  the  qualified  voters 
may  cast  their  votes. 

"  Resolved,  That  said  convention  shall  be  held  at 
Topeka  on  the  fourth  Tuesday  of  October  next,  at  12 
o'clock,  A.  M.,  of  that  day. 

"  Resolved,  That  a  majority  of  said  convention  shall 
constitute  a  quorum,  and  that  the  said  convention  shall 
determine  upon  the  returns  and  qualifications  of  its 
members,  and  shall  have  and  exercise  all  the  rights, 


116 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR   SLAVERY   RESTITUTION. 


privileges,  and  immunitie s  incident,  to  such  bodies,  and 
may  adopt  such  rules  and  regulations  for  its  govern 
ment  as  it  majority  thereof  may  direct.  If  a  majority  of 
said  convention  do  not  assemble  on  the  day  appointed 
therefor,  a  less  number  is  hereby  authorized  to  ad 
journ  from  day  to  d*y. 

"  Resulted,  f  but  in  case  of  the  death,  resignation,  or 
con-attf bdanee  of  any  delegate  chosen  from  any  dis 
trict  of  the  Territory,  the  president  of  the  convention 
shall  issue  his  writ  ordering  a  new  election,  on  five 
days  notice,  to  be  conducted  as  heretofore  directed. 

"Reso'v^  d,  That  no  pel  son  shall  be  entitled  to  a  seat 
in  the  convention  at  its  organization  except  the  mem 
bers  who-o  names  are  contained  in  the  proclamation 
of  the  chairman  of  the  executive  committee.  But 
after  the  convention  is  organized,  seats  may  be  con 
tested  in  the  usual  way. 

'•Resolved.  That  the  members  of  the  convention 
shall  receive,  as  a  compensation  for  their  services,  the 
sum  of  three  dollars  per  day,  and  three  dollars  for 
every  twenty  miles'  travel  to  and  from  the  same,  and 
that  Congress  be  respectfully  requested  to  appropriate 
a  sunici<-nt  sum  to  defray  the  necessary  expenses  of 
said  convention. 

"Ifcsolved,  That  on  the  adoption  of  a  Constitution 
for  the  State  of  Kansas,  the  president  of  the  conven 
tion  shall  transmit  an  authenticated  copy  thereof  to 
the  President  of  the  United  States,  to  the  President 
of  the  Senate,  and  to  the  Speaker  of  the  House  of 
Representatives;  to  each  member  of  Congress,  and 
to  the  governor  of  each  of  the  several  States  in  the 
Union  ;  and  adopt  such  other  measures  as  will  secure 
to  the  people  of  Kansas  the  rights  and  privilege  of  a 
sovereign  State. 

"  On  motion,  the  committee  on  address  was  vested 
with  authority  to  notify  the  people  of  the  several 
districts  of  the  Territory  of  the  coming  election,  by 
handbills,  public  addresses,  and  otherwise  as  they  may 
think  proper. 

"  The  Territorial  execu'ive  committee  was  appoint 
ed  by  the  cbair,  consisting  of  the  following  persons. 
J.  H.  Lane,  C.  K.  Holliday,  M.  J.  Parrott,  P.  C. 
Scbuyler  G.  W.  SJiuitb,  G.  W.  Brown,  and  J.  K. 
Goodin. 

"On  motion,  the  proceedings  of  this  convention 
were  ordered  to  be  published  in  all  the  papers  of  the 
Territory. 

"  A  vote  of  Chunks  was  passed  to  the  president  and 
officers  of  the  convention. 

"  Adjourned,  with  three  enthusiastic  cheers  for  the 
new  government  of  Kansns. 

"  WM.  Y.  ROBERTS,  President. 
"  E.  D.  LADD, 

J.  H.   NbSBITT, 

M.  W.  DELAUAY, 

Secretaries." 

"  CONSTITUTIONAL  PROCLAMATION. 

"  To  the  Legal  Voters  of  Kansas: 

"Whereas  the  Territorial  government,  as  now  con 
stituted  for  Kansas,  has  proved  a  failure — squatter 
sovereignty  und^r  its  workings  a  miserable  delusion, 
in  proof  of  wh'ch  it  is  only  necessary  to  refer  to  our 
past  history  and  our  present  deplorable  condition,  our 
ballot-boxes  have  been  taken  possession  of  by  bands 
of  armed  men  from  foreign  States — our  people  forcibly 
driven  therefrom— persons  attempting  to  be  foisted 
upon  us  as  members  of  a  so-called  legislature,  unac 
quainted  with  our  wants,  and  hostile  to  our  best 
interests -some  of  them  never  residents  of  our  Ter 
ritory — misnamed  lairs  passed,  and  now  attempting  to 
be  enforced  by  the  aid  of  citizens  of  foreign  States  of 
the  most  oppressive,  tyrannical,  and  insulting  charac 
ter— the  right  of  suffrage  taken  from  us— debarred 
from  the  privilege  of  a  voice  in  the  election  of  even 
the  most,  insignificant  officers— the  right  of  free  speech 
stifled—  the  muzzling  of  the  press  attempted  ;  and 
whereas  longer  forbearance  with  such  oppression  and 
tyranny  has  ceased  to  be  a  virtue ;  and  whereas  the 
people  of  this  country  have  heretofore  exercised  the 
right  of  changing  their  form  of  government  when  it 
became  oppressive,  and  have  at  all  times  conceded  this 
right  to  the  people  in  this  and  all  other  governments ; 
and  whereas  a  Territorial  form  of  government  is  un- 
knowu  to  the  Constitution,  and  is  the  mere  creature 
of  necessity  awaiting  the  action  of  the  people  ;  and 
whereas  the  debusing  character  of  the  slavery  which 
now  involves  us  impels  to  action,  and  leaves  us  as  the 
only  legal  and  peaceful  alternative  the  immediate 
establishment  of  a  State  government ;  and  whereas 
the  organic  act  fails  in  pointing  out  the  course  to  be 
adopted  in  an  emergency  like  ours  Therefore  you 


are  requested  to  meet  at  your  several  precincts  in  said 
Territory,  hereinafter  mention  d.  on  the  s»cond  Tues 
day  <>f  October  next,  it  being  the  ninth  day  of  said 
month,  and  then  and  there  c«styo«r  ballots  i'or  mem 
bers  of  a  convention,  to  meet  at"T«  pel  a  on  the  fourth 
Tue-day  in  October  next,  to  form  a  Constitution, 
adopt  a  bill  of  rights  for  the  people  of  Kansas,  and 
take  all  needful  measures  for  orsranizirg  a  State  gov 
ernment  preparatory  to  the  admission  of  Kansas  into 
the  Union  as  a  State. 

"Places  for  Polls. 

"First  election-district — Lawrence  precinct,  at  the 
office  of  John  Hutchinson,  in  I-awrence.  Blanton 
precinct,  at  the  house  of  J.  B.  Abb'otr.  in  Blanton. 
Palmyra  precinct,  at  the  house  of  H.  Barricklow,  in 
Palmyra — Wakarusa  river  the  dividing  line  between 
the  two  precincts. 

"Second  election-district. — Blooraington  precinct, 
house  of  Harrison  Burson,  on  the  Wakarusa.  Be- 
nicia  preciuct,  house  of  J.  J.  Cranmer,  East  Douglas. 

"  Third  election-district. — Topnk*  precinct,  house 
of  F.  W.  Giles.  Topeka.  Big  Springs  piecmct,  at  the 
house  of  Wesley  Frost,  in  Washington  Tecumseh 
precinct,  at  the  hous*  of  Mr.  Hoauland,  in  Tecumseh. 

"  Fourth  election-district. —  Willow  Springs  precinct, 
at  the  house  of  Dr.  Chapman,  on  the  Santa  Fe  road, 
Springfield. 

''Fifth  election-district.— Bull-Creek  precinct,  at 
the  house  of  Baptiste  Peoria,  on  Pottawatomie- 
Creek.  Pottawatomie  precinct,  at  the  House  of  Henry 
Sherman.  Osawattamia  precinct,  at  the  house  of 
Wm.  Hughes,  in  Osawattamie.  Big  Sugar-Creek 
precinct,  at  the  hous*  of  Elijah  Tucker,  at  old  Potta- 
watomie  Mission.  Little  Sugar-Cretk  precinct,  at 
the  house  of  Isaac  Stockton.  Neosho  precinct,  at  the 
store  of  Hamilton  Smith,  in  Neosho.  Hampdtin  pre 
cinct,  at  the  house  of  W.  A.  Ela,  in  Hampden 

"  Sixth  election-district. — Port  Scott  precinct,  at  the 
house  of  Mr.  Johnson,  or  a  suitable  building  in  Fort 
Scott.  Scott's  Town  precinct,  at  the  house  of  Mr. 
Vandever. 

"Seventh  election-district.— Titus  precinct,  at  tho 
house  of  J.  B.  Titus,  on  the  Santa  Fe  road. 

"  Eighth  election-dis'rict. — Council  Grove  precinct, 
at  Council  Grove  Mission  House.  Waubonsa  precinct, 
at  some  suitable  building  in  Waubonsa.  Mill-Creek 
precinct,  at  the  house  of  G.  E.  Hoheneck,  on  Mill- 
Creek.  Ashland  precinct,  at  the  house  of  Mr  Adams, 
in  Ashland. 

"  Ninth  election-district. — Pawnee  precinct,  at  Lo» 
den  and  Shaw's  store,  in  Pawnee. 

"  Ttnth  election- district. — Big  Blue  precinct,  at  the 
house  of  S.  D.  Dyer,  in  Juniatta.  Rock- Creek  pre 
cinct,  at  the  house  of  Robert  Wilson. 

"Eleventh  election  district. — Vermillion  precinct,  at 
the  hou-e  of  John  Schmidt,  on  Vermillion  branch  of 
Blue  river. 

"  Twelfth  election-district.— St.  Mary's  precinct,  at 
the  house  of  B.  F.  Bertrand.  Silver  Lake  precinct,  at 
the  house  of  Joseph  Leframbois. 

"  Thirteenth  election-district.— Hickory  Point  pre 
cinct,  at  the  house  of  Charles  Hardt.  Falls  precinct, 
at  the  house  of  'Mill  Company,'  al  Grass-hopper 

"  Fourteenth  election-district.—  Bur-Oak  precinct,  at 
the  house  of  Benjamin  Harding.  Poniphan  precinct, 
(including  part  of  the  15th  district  to  Walnut-Creek), 
at  the  house  of  Dr.  G  A.  Cutler,  in  Doniphan.  Wolf 
river  precinct,  at  the  bouse  of  Aaron  Lewis 

"  Fifteenth  election-district.  —  Walnut-Creek  pre 
cinct  (south  Walnut-Creek),  at  the  house  of  Charles 
Hays,  on  Military  road. 

'•  Sixteenth  election-district.— Leavenworth  precinct, 
at  the  store  of  Thomas  Doyle,  in  Leavenworth  City. 
Easton  precinct,  at  the  house  of  Thomas  A.  Maynard, 
on  Stranger-Creek.  Wyandot  precinct ,  at  the  coun 
cil-house,  in  Wyandot  City.  Ridge  precinct,  at  the 
house  of  Wm.  Pennock. 

"  Seventeenth  election-district.— Mission  precinct,  at 
the  Baptist  Mission-building.  Wakarusa  precinct,  at 
the  store  of  Paschal  Fish. 

"E.'rhteenth  election-district.— CA.\\^OTU\&  precinct, 
at  the  bouse  of  W.  W.  Moore,  on  the  St.  Joseph  and 
California  road. 

"  INSTRUCTION  TO  JUDGES  OP   ELECTION. 

"  The  three  judges  will  provide  for  each  poll,  ballot- 
boxes  for  depositing  the  ballots  cast  by  electors  ;  shall 
appoint  two  rlerks.  all  of  whom  shall  be  sworn  or  af 
firm  to  discharge  the  duties  of  their  respective  offices 
impartially  aud  with  fidelity  ;  and  the  judges  and 


THE  KANSAS-NEBRASKA  STRUGGLE, 


117 


clerks  shall  have  power  to  administer  the  oath  or  affir 
mation  to  each  other;  and  the  said  judges  shall  open 
said  election  at  10  o'clock  a.m.,  at  the  place  designated 
in  each  precinct  by  the  executive  committee  of  Kansas 
Territory,  and  close  the  same  at  4  o'clock  p.  m.  In  case 
any  of  the  officers  appointed  fail  to  attend,  the  officer  or 
officers  in  attendance  shall  supply  their  places.  And 
the  said  judges  shall  make  out  duplicate  returns  of  said 
election;  seal  up  and  transmit  one  copy  ef  the  same 
within  five  days  to  the  chairman  of  the  executive 
committee  to  be  laid  before  the  convention,  and  they 
shall  within  ten  days  seal  up  and  hand  the  other  to 
Borne  member  of  tlie  said  executive  committtee.  If  at 
the  time  of  holding  said  election  it  shall  be  inconveni 
ent  on  account  of  Indian  hostilities,  or  any  other  cause 
whatever,  that  would  disturb  or  prevent  the  voters 
of  any  election-precinct  in  the  Territory  trom  the  free 
and  peaceable  exercise  of  the  elective  franchise,  the 
officers  ar»  he-eby  authorized  to  adjourn  said  election 
into  any  other  precinct  in  the  Territory,  and  to  any 
other  day  they  may  see  proper,  of  the  necessity  of 
which  they  shall  be  the  exclusive  judges,  at  which 
time  and  place  the  qualified  voters  may  cast  their 
votes. 

"  QUALIFICATION  OF  VOTERS,  ETC. 
"  All  white  male  inhabitants,  citizens  of  the  United 
States,  or  who  have  declared  their  intentions,  before 
the  proper  authorities,  to  become  such,  above  the  age 
of  twenty-one  years,  who  have  had  a  buna  fide  resi 
dence  in  the  Territory  for  the  space  of  thirty  days 
immediately  preceding  the  day  of  the  said  election, 
shall  be  entitled  to  vote  for  delegates  to  said  conven 
tion;  and  all  white  male  inhabitants,  citizens  of  the 
United  States,  above  the  age  of  twenty-one  years,  who 
have  had  a  bun  a  Jide  residence  in  the  Territory  of  Kan 
sas  for  the  space  of  three  months  immediately  pre 
ceding  the  day  of  election,  shall  be  eligible  as  dele 
gates  to  said  convention. 

"  APPORTIONMENT. 

"  The  apportionment  of  delegates  to  said  convention 
ehnll  be  as  follows  :  Two  delegates  for  each  represent 
ative  to  which,  the  people  were  entitled  in  the  legis 
lative  assembly,  by  proclamation  of  Governor  Reeder 
of  date  March  10  3.855. 

"  It  is  confidently  believed  that  the  people  of  Kan 
sas  are  fully  alive  to  the  importance  of  the  step  they 
are  about  to  take  in  disenthralling  themselves  from  the 
slavery  which  is  now  lettering  them;  and  the  squat 
ters  of  Knnsus  are  earnestly  requested  to  be  at  their 
several  polls  on  the  'lay  above  designated.  See  that 
there  be  no  illegal  votes  cast,  and  that  every  ballot  re 
ceived  be  in  accordance  with  your  choice  for  delegate 
to  the  constitution  .1  convention,  and  have  all  the 
regulations  and  restrictions  carried  out. 

"  The  plan  proposed  in  the  proclamation,  to  govern 
you  in  the  election,  hns  been  adopted  after  mature 
deliberation,  and,  if  adhered  to  by  you,  will  result  in 
establishing  in  Kansas  an  independent  government  that 
will  be  admitted  into  our  beloved  Union  as  a  sovereign 
State,  securing  to  our  people  the  liberty  they  have 
heretofore  enjoyed,  and  which  has  been  so  ruthlessly 
wrested  from  them  by  reckless  invaders. 

"  By  order  of  the  executive  committee  of  Kansas 
Territory, 

"  J.  H.  LANE,  Chairman. 

''  J.  K.  GOODIN,  Secretary." 

Delegates  were  elected  agreeably  to  the  pro 
clamation  so  issued,  and  they  met  at  Topeka  on 
the  fourth  Tuesday  in  October,  1855,  and  formed 
a  constitution,  which  was  submitted  to  the  peo 
ple,  and  was  ratified  by  them  by  vote  in  the  dis 
tricts.  An  election  of  State  officers  and  members 
of  the  State  legislature  has  been  had,  and  a  rep 
resentative  to  Congress  elected,  and  it  is  intend 
ed  to  proceed  to  the  election  of  senators,  with  the 
view  to  present  the  same,  with  the  constitution, 
to  Congress  for  admission  into  the  Union. 

Whatever  views  individuals  may  at  times,  or 
in  meetings,  have  expressed,  and  whatever  ulti 
mate  determination  may  have  been  entertained 
in  the  result  of  being  spurned  by  Congress,  and 
refused  redress,  is  now  entirely  immaterial. 
That  cannot  condemn  or  give  character  to  the 
proceedings  thus  far  pursued. 

Many  may  have  honestly  believed  usurpation 
could  make  no  law,  and  that  if  Congress  made 
no  fur.ther  provisions  they  were  well  justified 


in  forming  a  law  for  themselves ;  but  it  is  not 
now  necessary  to  consider  that  matter,  as  it  is  to 
be  hoped  that  Congress  will  not  leave  them  to 
such  a  necessity. 

Thus  far,  this  effort  of  the  people  for  redress  is 
peaceful,  constitutional,  and  right.  Whether  it 
will  succeed,  rests  with  Congress  to  determine ; 
but  clear  it  is  that  it  should  not  be  met  and  de 
nounced  as  revolutionary,  rebellious,  insurrec 
tionary,  or  unlawful,  nor  does  it  call  furor  justify 
the  exercise  of  any  force  by  any  department  of 
this  government  to  check  or  control  it. 

It  now  becomes  proper  to  inquire  what  should 
be  done  by  Congress ;  for  we  are  informed  by 
the  President,  in  substance,  that  he  has  no  power 
to  correct  a  usurpation,  and  that  the  laws,  even 
though  made  by  usurped  authority,  must  be  by 
him  enforced  and  executed,  even  with  military 
force.  The  measures  of  redress  should  be  ap 
plied  to  the  true  cause  of  the  difficulty.  This 
obviously  lies  in  the  repeal  of  the  clause  for  free 
dom  in  the  act  of  1820,  and  therefore  the  true 
remedy  lies  in  the  entire  repeal  of  the  act  of  1854, 
which  effected  it,  Let  this  be  done  with  frank 
ness  and  magnanimity,  and  Kansas  be  organized 
anew,  as  a  Free  Territory,  and  all  will  be  put 
right. 

J3ut,  if  Congress  insist  on  proceeding  with  the 
experiment,  then  declare  all  the  action  by  this 
spurious,  foreign  legislative  assembly  utterly  in 
operative  and  void,  and  direct  a  reorganization, 
providing  proper  safeguard  for  legal  voting  and 
against  foreign  force. 

There  is,  however,  another  way  to  put  an  end 
to  all  this  trouble  there,  and  in  the  nation,  with 
out  retracing  steps  or  continuing  violence,  or  by 
force  compelling  obedience  to  tyrannical  laws 
made  by  foreign  force  ;  and  that  is,  by  admitting 
that  Territory  as  a  State,  with  her  free  constitu 
tion.  True,  indeed,  her  numbers  are  not  such  as 
gives  her  a  right  to  demand  admission,  being,  as 
the  President  informs  its,  probably  only  abont 
twenty-five  thousand.  The  Constitution  fixes  no 
number  as  necessary,  and  the  importance  of  now 
settling  this  question  may  well  justify  Congress 
in  admitting  this  as  a  State,  at  tliis  time,  -especi 
ally  as  we  have  good  reason  to  believe  that,  if 
admitted  as  a  State,  and  controversy  ended,  it 
will  immediately  fill  up  with  a  numerous  and 
successful  population. 

At  any  rate,  it  seems  impossible  to  believe  that 
Congress  is  to  leave  that  people  without  redress, 
to  have  enforced  upon  them  by  the  army  of  the 
nation  these  measures  and  laws  of  violence  and 
oppression.  Are  they  to  be  dragooned  into  sub 
mission  ?  Is  that  an  experiment  pleasant  to 
execute  on  our  own  free  people  ? 

The  true  character  of  this  transaction  is  matter 
of  extensive  notoriety.  Its  essential  features  are 
too  obvious  to  allow  of  any  successful  disguise 
or  palliation,  however  complicated  or  ingenious 
may  be  the  statements,  or  however  special  the 
pleadings,  for  that  purpose.  The  case  requires 
some  quieting,  kind,  and  prudent  treatment  by 
the  baud  of  Congress  to  do  justice  and  satisfy  the 
nation.  The  people  of  this  country  are  peaceful 
ly  relying  on  Congress  to  provide  the  competent 
measures  of  redress  which  they  have  the  un 
doubted  power  to  administer. 

The  Attorney-General,  in  the  case  of  Arkansas, 
says :  "  Congress  may  at  pleasure  repeal  or 
modify  the  laws  passed  by  the  territorial  legisla 
ture,  and  may  at  any  time  abrogate  and  remodel 
the  legislature  itself,  and  all  the  other  depart 
ments  of  the  territorial  government." 

Treating  this  grievance  in  Kansas  with  inge 
nious  excuses,  with  neglect  or  contempt,  or  riding 
over  the  oppressed  with  an  army,  and  dragooning 
them  into  submission,  will  make  no  satisfactory 
termination.  Party  success  may  at  times  be 
temporarily  secured  by  adroit  .devices,  plausible 


118 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  SLAVERY  RESTRICTION. 


pretenses,  and  partisan  address  ;  but  the  perma 
nent  preservation  of  this  Union  can  be  maintain 
ed  only  by  frankness  and  integrity.  Justice  may 
be  denied  where  it  ought  to  be  granted ;  power 
may  perpetuate  that  vassalage  which  violence 
and  usurpation  have  produced  ;  the  subjugation 
of  white  freemen  may  be  necessary,  that  African 
Slavery  may  succeed ;  but  such  a  course  must 
not  be  expected  to  produce  peace  and  satisfaction 
in  our  country,  so  long  as  the  people  retain  any 
proper  sentiment  of  justice,  liberty,  and  law. 

J.  COLLAMER. 

It  is  not  possible,  within  the  limits  pre 
scribed  for  this  volume,  to  give  a  full  ac 
count  of  the  debates  and  proceedings  in  the 
present  Congress  with  relation  to  Kansas. 
Suffice  it  that,  on  the  19th  of  March,  the 
House  was  brought  to  a  vote  on  the  propo 
sition  of  the  Committee  of  Elections,  to 
empower  said  Committee  to  send  to  Kansas 
for  persons  and  papers,  modified,  on  motion 
of  Mr.  Dunn  of  Indiana,  with  the  assent  of 
said  Committee,  so  as  to  read  as  follows  : 

"  Resolved,  That  a  Committee  of  three  of  the 
members  of  this  House,  to  be  appointed  by  the 
Speaker,  shall  proceed  to  inquire  into  and  collect 
evidence  in  regard  to  the  troubles  in  Kansas 
generally,  and  particularly  in  regard  to  any  fraud 
or  force  attempted  or  practiced  in  reference  to 
any  of  the  elections  which  have  taken  place  in 
said  Territory,  either  under  the  law  organizing 
said  Territory,  or  under  any  pretended  law  which 
may  be  alleged  to  have  taken  effect  there  since. 
That  they  shall  fully  investigate  and  take  proof 
of  all  violent  and  tumultuous  proceedings  in  said 
Territory,  at  any  time  since  the  passage  of  the 
Kansas-Nebraska  act,  whether  engaged  in  by 
the  residents  of  said  Territory,  or  by  any  person 
or  persons  from  elsewhere  going  into  said  Terri 
tory,  and  doing,  or  encouraging  others  to  do,  any 
act  of  violence  or  public  disturbance  against  the 
laws  of  the  United  States,  or  the  rights,  peace, 
and  safety  of  the  residents  of  said  Territory  ;  and, 
for  that  purpose,  said  Committee  shall  have  full 
power  to  send  for,  and  examine,  and  take  copies 
of,  all  such  papers,  public  records,  and  proceed 
ings,  as  in  their  judgment  will  be  useful  in  the 
premises  ;  and  also,  to  send  for  persons  and  exam 
ine  them  on  oath,  or  affirmation,  as  to  matters 
within  their  knowledge,  touching  the  matters  of 
said  investigation ;  and  said  Committee,  by  their 
Chairman,  shall  have  power  to  administer  all 
necessary  oaths  or  affirmations  connected  with 
their  aforesaid  duties. 

"  Resolved  further,  That  said  Committee  may 
hold  their  investigations  at  such  places  and  times 
as  to  them  may  seem  advisable,  and  that  they 
have  leave  of  absence  from  the  duties  of  this 
House  until  they  shall  have  completed  such  in 
vestigation.  That  they  be  authorized  to  em- 
•ploy  one  or  more  clerks,  and  one  or  more  as 
sistant  sergeants-at-arms,  to  aid  them  in  their 
investigation ;  and  may  administer  to  them  an 
oath,  or  affirmation,  faithfully  to  perform  the 
duties  assigned  to  them,  respectively,  and  to  keep 
secret  all  matters  which  may  come  to  their  know 
ledge  touching  such  investigation,  as  said  Com 
mittee  may  direct,  until  the  Report  of  the  same 
»hall  be  submitted  to  this  House  ;  and  said  Com 
mittee  may  discharge  any  such  clerk,  or  assistant 
sergeant-at-arms,  for  neglect  of  duty  or  disregard 
of  instruction*  in  the  premises,  and  employ  others 
under  like  regulations. 

"  Rejoiced  further,  That  if  any  person  shall,  in 
any  niumier,  obstruct  or  hinder  said  Committee, 
or  attempt  to  do  so>  in  their  said  investigation 


or  shall  refuse  to  attend  on  said  Committee,  and 
to  give  evidence,  when  summoned  for  that  pur 
pose,  or  shall  refuse  to  produce  any  paper,  book, 
public  record,  or  proceeding,  in  then-  possession 
or  control,  to  said  Committee,  when  so  required, 
or  shall  make  any  disturbance  where  said  Com 
mittee  is  [are]  holding  then*  sittings,  said  Commit 
tee  may,  if  they  see  fit,  cause  any  such  person  to 
be  arrested  by  said  assistant  sergearit-at-arms, 
and  brought  before  this  House,  to  be  dealt  with 
as  for  contempt. 

"  Resolved  further,  That,  for  the  purpose  of 
defraying  the  expenses  of  said  Commission,  there 
be,  and  hereby  is,  appropriated  the  sum  of  ten 
thousand  dollars,  to  be  paid  out  of  the  contingent 
fund  of  this  House. 

"  Resolved  further,  That  the  President  of  the 
United  States  be,  and  is  hereby,  requested  to 
furnish  to  said  Committee,  should  they  be  met 
with  any  serious  opposition  by  bodies  of  lawless 
men  in  the  discharge  of  their  duties  aforesaid, 
such  aid  from  any  military  force  as  may  at  the 
time  be  convenient  to  them,  as  may  be  necessary 
to  remove  such  opposition,  and  enable  said  Com 
mittee,  without  molestation,  to  proceed  with  their 
labors. 

"  Resolved  further,  That  when  said  Committee 
shall  have  completed  said  investigation,  they 
report  all  the  evidence  so  collected  to  this  House." 

This  proposition  the  House  adopted — 
Yeas  101  ;  Nays  93 — as  follows  : 

YEAS — For  the  proposed  Investigation: 

MAINE — Samuel  P.  Benson,  Ebenezer  Knowl- 
ton,  Israel  Washburn,  Jr. — 3. 

NEW-HAMPSHIRE — Aaron  H.  Cragin.  James 
Pike— 2. 

MASSACHUSETTS — James  Buffinton,  Arreon 
Burlingame,  Calvin  C.  Chaffee,  Linus  B.  Comins, 
William  S.  Damrell,  Timothy  Davis,  Robert 
B.  Hull,  Chauncey  L.  Kriapp,  Mark  Traftoa 
—9. 

RHODE  ISLAND — Nathaniel  B.  Durfee — 1. 

CONNECTICUT — Ezra  Clark,  Jr.,  Sidney  Dean, 
William  W.  Welch,  John  Woodruff— 4. 

VERMONT — James  Meacham.  Justin  S.  Mor- 
rill— a. 

NEW-YORK — Henry  Bennett,  Bayard  Clarke, 
Samuel  Dickson,  Edward  Dodd,  Francis  S.  Ed 
wards,  Thomas  T.  Flagler,  William  A.  Gilbert, 
Amos  P.  Granger,  Solomon  G.  Haven,  Thomas 
R.  Horton,  Jonas  A.  Hughston,  William  H.  Kel- 
sey,  Rufus  H.  King,  Orsamus  B.  Matteson, 
Andrew  Z.  McCarty,  Killian  Miller,  Edwin  B. 
Morgan,  Ambrose  S.  Murray,  Andrew  Oliver, 
John  M.  Parker,  Benjamin  Pringle,  Russell 
Sage,  George  A.  Simmons,  Francis  E.  Spinner, 
James  S.  T.  Stranahan,  Abram  Wakeman — 
26. 

NEW-JERSEY — Isaiah  D.  Clawson,  James 
Bishop,  George  R.  Robbins — 3. 

PENNSYLVANIA — John  Allison,  DAVID  BAR 
CLAY,  Samuel  C.  Braetehaw,  James  H.  Camp 
bell,  John  Covode,  John  Dick,  John  R.  Edie, 
Galusha  A.  Grow,  JOHN  HICKMAN,  Jonathan 
Knight,  David  Ritchie,  Anthony  E.  Roberts, 
Job  R.  Tyson,  Lemuel  Todd— 14. 

OHIO — Edward  Ball,  Philemon  Bliss,  Lewis 
D.  Campbell,  Timothy  C.  Day,  Jonas  R.  Emrie, 
Samuel  Galloway,  Joshua  R.  Giddings,  Aaron 
Harlan,  John  Scott  Harrison,  Valentine  B. 
Horton,  Benjamin  F.  Loiter,  Oscar  F.  Moore, 
Richard  Mott,  Matthias  H.  Nichols,  William  R. 
Sapp,  John  Sherman,  Edward  Wade,  Cooper  K. 
Watson— 18. 

INDIANA — Lucien  Barbour,  Samuel  Brenton, 
Schuyler  Colfax,  William  Cumback,  George  G. 
Dunn,  Daniel  Mace,  John  U.  Pettit,  Harvey  D. 
Scott— 8. 

ILLINOIS — James    Knox,    Jesse    O.  Norton, 


THE  KANSAS-NEBRASKA  STRUGGLE. 


119 


Elihu  B.  Washburne,  James  H.  Woodworth — 
4. 

MICHIGAN— William  A.  Howard,  David  S. 
Walbridge,  Henry  Waldron— 3. 

WISCONSIN — Charles  Billinghurst,  Cadwalla- 
der  C.  Washburne— 2. 

IOWA — AUGUSTUS  C.  HALL.  James  Thoring- 
ton— 2. 

Total  Yeas,  101. 

NA  YS—  Against  the  Investigation  : 

MAINE— Thomas  J.  D.  Fuller— 1.  I 

OTHER  NEW-ENGLAND  STATES — None. 

NEW-YORK— John  Kelly,  William  W.  Valk, 
John  Wheeler,  Thomas  R.  Whitney  -4. 

NEW- JERSEY — George  Vail — 1. 

PENNS Y  LVANIA — John  Cadwalader,  Thomas  B. 
Florence,  J.  Glancy  Jones — 3. 

OHIO — None.     WISCONSIN — None. 

INDIANA — William  H.  English,  Smith  Miller 

2. 

MICHIGAN — George  W.  Peck — 1. 

ILLINOIS — James  C.  Allen,  Thomas  L.  Harris, 
Samuel  S.  Marshall,  William  A.  Richardson— 
4. 

CALIFORNIA— Philemon  T.  Herbert— 1. 

IOWA — None. 

Total  from  Free  States,  17. 

DELAWARE — None. 

MARYLAND — Thomas  F.  Bowie,  Henry  W. 
Davis,  Henry  W.  Hoffman,  J.  Morrison  Har 
ris,  James  B.  Ricaud,  James  A.  Stewart — 6. 

VIRGINIA — Thomas  S.  Bocock,  John  S.  Car 
lisle,  John  S.  Caskie,  Henry  A.  Edmundson, 
Charles  J.  Faulkner,  William  O.  Goode,  Zede- 
kiah  Kidwell,  John  Leteher,  Fayette  McMullen, 
John  S.  Millson,  Paulus  Powell,  William  Smith 
—12. 

NORTH  CAROLINA — Louis  O'B.  Branch,  Thom 
as  L.  Clingman,  Burton  Craige,  Robert  T. 
Paine,  Thomas  Ruffin,  Warren  Winslow — 6. 

SOUTH  CAROLINA — William  Aiken,  William 
W.  Boyce,  Preston  S.  Brooks,  John  McQtieen, 
James  L.  Orr— 5. 

GEORGIA — Howell  Cobb,  Martin  J.  Crawford, 
John  H.  Lumpkin,  James  L.  Seward,  Alex.  H. 
Stephens,  Robert  P.  Trippc,  Hiram  Warner — 

ALABAMA— W.  R.  W.  Cobb,  James  F.  Dow- 
dell,  Sampson  W.  Harris,  George  8.  Houston, 
Eli  S.  Shorter,  William  R.  Smith,  Percy  Walker 

MISSISSIPPI— Hendley  S.Bennett,  William  A. 
Lake,  John  A.  Quitman — 3. 

LOUISIANA — Thos.  G.  Davidson,  George  Eus- 
tis,  Jr.,  John  M.  Sandidge,  Miles  Taylor— -4. 

FLORIDA — Augustus  E.  Maxwell — 1. 

TEXAS— Peter  H.  Bell,  Lemuel  D.  Evans— -2. 

KENTUCKY — Henry  C.  Burnett,  John  P. 
Campbell,  Leander  M.  Cox,  John  M.  Elliot, 
Alex.  K.  Marshall,  Humphrey  Marshall,  Samuel 
F.  Swope,  Albert  G.  Talbott,  William  L.  Under 
wood — 9. 

TENNESSEE — George  W.Jones,  Charles  Ready, 
John  H.  Savage,  Samuel  A.  Smith,  William  H. 
Sneed,  Albert  G.  Watkins,  John  V.  Wright, 
Felix  K.  Zollicoffer—S. 

MISSOURI — Samuel  Caruthers,  Luther  M. 
Kewiett,  James  J.  Lindley,  Mordecai  Oliver, 
John  S.  Phelps,  Gilchrist  Porter— 6. 

ARKANSAS — None. 

[Fillmore  men  in  Italics;  Buchanan  men  voting 
Yea,  in  SMALL  CAPITALS  ;  Anti-Nebraska  Yeas  and 
Buchanan  Nays  in  Roman.] 

So  the  resolution  prevailed,  and  Messrs. 
WILLIAM  A.  HOWARD  of  Michigan,  JOHN 
SHERMAN  of  Ohio,  and  MORDECAI  OLIVER 


of  Missouri,  were  appointed  the  Committee 
of  Investigation  thereby  required. 

These  gentlemen  proceeded  to  Kansas, 
and  spent  several  weeks  there  in  taking  tes 
timony  as  to  the  elections,  etc.,  which  had 
taken  place  in  that  Territory.  The  testi 
mony  thus  taken  forms  a  volume  of  nearly 
twelve  hundred  large  and  closely-printed 
pages,  the  substance  of  which  was  summed 
up  on  their  return  by  the  majority  (Messrs. 
Howard  and  Sherman),  in  the  following 

REPORT    ON    THE   OUTRAGES    IN 
KANSAS. 

A  journal  of  proceedings,  including  sundry  com 
munications  made  to  and  by  the  Committee 
was  kept,  a  copy  of  which  is  herewith  submitted. 
The  testimony  also  is  herewith  submitted  ;  a 
copy  of  it  has  been  made  and  arranged,  not  ac 
cording  to  the  order  in  which  it  was  taken,  but  so 
as  to  present,  as  clearly  as  possible,  a  consecu 
tive  history  of  events  in  the  Territory,  from  its 
organization  to  the  19th  day  of  March,  A.  D. 
1856. 

Your  Committee  deem  it  their  duty  to  state,  as 
briefly  as  possible,  the  principal  facts  proven  be 
fore  them.  When  the  act  to  organize  the  Ter 
ritory  of  Kansas  was  passed  on day  of 

May,  1854,,  the  greater  portion  of  its  eastern  bor 
der  was  included  in  Indian  reservations  not  open 
for  settlement,  and  there  were  but  few  white  set 
tlers  in  any  portion  of  the  Territory.  Its  Indian 
population  was  rapidly  decreasing,  while  many 
emigrants  from  different  parts  of  our  country  were 
anxiously  waiting  the  extinction  of  the  Indian 
title,  and  the  establishment  of  a  Territorial  Gov 
ernment,  to  seek  new  homes  in  its  fertile  prai 
ries.  It  cannot  be  doubted  that  if  its  condition 
as  a  free  Territory  had  been  left  undisturbed 
by  Congress  its  settlement  would  have  been 
rapid,  peaceful,  and  prosperous.  Its  climate, 
soil,  and  its  easy  access  to  the  older  settlements 
would  have  made  it  the  favored  course  for  the 
tide  of  emigration  constantly  flowing  to  the  West, 
and  by  this  time  it  would  have  been  admitted 
into  the  Union  as  a  Free  State,  without  the  least 
sectional  excitement.  If  so  organized,  none  but 
the  kindest  feeling  could  have  existed  between  it 
and  the  adjoining  State.  Their  mutual  interests 
and  intercourse,  instead  of,  as  now,  endangering 
the  harmony  of  the  Union,  would  have  strength 
ened  the  ties  of  national  brotherhood.  The  tes 
timony  clearly  shows,  that  before  the  proposition 
to  repeal  the  Missouri  Compromise  was  intro 
duced  into  Congress,  the  people  of  western  Mis 
souri  appeared  indifferent  to  the  prohibition  of 
Slavery  in  the  Territory,  and  neither  asked  nor 
desired  its  repeal. 

When,  however,  the  prohibition  was  removed 
by  the  action  of  Congress,  the  aspect  of  affairs 
entirely  changed.  The  whole  country  was  agi 
tated,  by  the  reopening  of  a  controversy  which 
conservative  men  in  different  sections  hoped  had 
been  settled,  in  every  State  and  Territory,  by 
some  law  beyond  the  danger  of  repeal.  The  ex 
citement  which  has  always  accompanied  the 
discussion  of  the  Slavery  question  was  greatly  in 
creased,  by  the  hope  on  the  one  hand  of  extend 
ing  Slavery  into  a  region  from  which  it  had  been 
excluded  by  law,  and  on  the  other  by  a  sense  of 
wrong  done  by  what  was  regarded  as  a  dishonor 
of  a  national  compact.  This  excitement  was  natu 
rally  transferred  into  the  border  counties  of 
Missouri  and  the  Territory  as  settlers  favoring 
free  or  Slave  institutions  moved  into  it.  A  new 
difficulty  soon  occurred.  Different  constructions 
were  put  upon  the  organic  law.  It  was  contend 
ed  by  the  one  party  that  the  right  to  hold  Slaves 


120 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  SLAVERY  RESTRICTION. 


in  the  Territory  existed,  and  that  neither  the  peo 
ple  nor  the  Territorial  Legislature  could  prohibit 
Slavery — that  that  power  was  alone  possessed  by 
the  people  when  they  were  authorized  to  form  a 
State  government.  It  was  contended  (hat  the 
removal  of  the  restriction  virtually  established 
Slavery  in  the  Territory.  This  claim  was  urged 
by  many  prominent  men  in  western  Missouri, 
who  actively  engaged  in  the  affairs  of  the  Terri 
tory.  Every  movement,  of  whatever  character, 
which  tended  to  establish  free  institutions,  was 
regarded  as  an  interference  with  their  rights. 

Within  a  few  days  after  the  organic  law  pass 
ed,  and  as  soon  as  its  passage  could  be  known 
on  the  border,  leading  citizens  of  Missouri  cross 
ed  into  the  Territory,  held  squatter  meetings  and 
then  returned  to  their  homes.  Among  their  reso 
lutions  are  the  following : 

"That  we  will  afford  protection  to  no  Abolitionist  as 
a  settler  of  this  Territory." 

"  That  we  recognize  the  institution  of  Slavery  as  al 
ready  existing  in  this  Territory,  and  advise  slavehold 
ers  to  introduce  their  property  as  early  as  possible." 

Similar  resolutions  were  passed  in  various 
parts  of  the  Territory,  and  by  meetings  in  seve 
ral  counties  of  Missouri.  Thus  the  first  effect 
of  the  repeal  of  the  restriction  against  Slavery 
was  to  substitute  the  resolves  of  squatter  meet 
ings,  composed  almost  exclusively  of  citizens  of 
a  single  State,  for  the  deliberate  action  of  Con 
gress,  acquiesced  in  for  thirty-five  years. 

This  unlawful  interference  has  been  continued 
in  every  important  event  in  the  history  of  the 
Territory  ;  every  election  has  been  controlled  not 
by  the  actual  settlers,  but  by  citizens  of  Mis 
souri,  and  as  a  consequence  every  officer  in  the 
Territory,  from  constables  to  legislators,  except 
those  appointed  by  the  President,  owe  their  posi 
tions  to  non-resident  voters.  None  have  been 
elected  by  the  settlers,  and  your  Committee  have 
been  unable  to  find  that  any  political  power 
whatever,  however  unimportant,  has  been  exer 
cised  by  the  people  of  the  Territory. 

In  October,  A.  i>.  1854,  Gov.  A.  H.  Reeder 
and  the  other  officers  appointed  by  the  President 
arrived  in  the  Territory.  Settlers  from  all  parts 
of  the  country  were  moving  in  in  great  numbers, 
making  their  claims  and  building  their  cabins. 
About  the  same  time,  and  before  any  election  was 
or  could  be  held  in  the  Territory,  a  secret  politi 
cal  society  was  formed  in  the  State  of  Missouri 
(1).  It  was  known  by  different  names,  such  as 
"  Social  Band,"  "  Friends'  Society,"  "  Blue 
Lodge,"  "  The  Sons  of  theSouth."  Its  members 
were  bound  together  by  secret  oaths,  and  they 
had  passwords,  signs,  and  grips  by  which  they 
were  known  to  each  other.  Penalties  were  im 
posed  for  violating  the  rules  and  secrets  of  the 
Order.  Written  minutes  were  kept  of  the  pro 
ceedings  of  the  Lodges,  and  the  different  Lodges 
were  connected  together  by  an  effective  organi 
zation.  It  embraced  great  numbers  of  the  citi 
zens  of  Missouri,  and  was  extended  into  other 
Slave  States  and  into  the  Territory.  Its  avowed 
purpose  was  not  only  to  extend  Slavery  into  Kan 
sas,  but  also  into  other  Territory  of  the  United 
States,  and  to  form  a  union  of  all  the  friends  of 
that  institution.  Its  plan  of  operating  was  to  or 
ganize  and  send  men  to  vote  at  the  elections  in 
the  Territory,  to  collect  money  to  pay  then-  ex 
penses,  and,  if  necessary,  to  protect  them  in  vot 
ing.  It  also  proposed  to  induce  Pro- Slavery  men 
to  emigrate  into  the  Territory,  to  aid  and  sustain 
them  while  there,  and  to  elect  none  to  office  but 
those  friendly  to  their  views.  This  dangerous 
society  was  controlled  by  men  who  avowed  their 
purpose  to  extend  Slavery  into  the  Territory  at 
all  hazards,  and  was  altogether  the  most  effective 

(1)  Jordan  Davidson,  J.  C.  Prince,  John  Scott,  J.  H. 
Striugfellow. 


nstrument  in  organizing  the  subsequent  armed 
nvasions  and  forays.  In  its  Lodges  in  Missouri 
the  affairs  of  Kansas  were  discussed,  the  force 
necessary  to  control  the  election  was  divided  in 
to  bands,  and  leaders  selected,  means  were  col 
lected,  and  signs  and  badges  were  agreed  upon. 
While  the  great  body  of  the  actual  settlers  of  the 
Territory  were  relying  upon  the  rights  secured 
to  them  by  the  organic  law,  and  had  formed  no 
organization  or  combination  whatever  even  of  a 
party  character,  this  conspiracy  against  their 
rights  was  gathering  strength  in  a  neighboring 
State,  and  would  have  been  sufficient  at  their  first 
election  to  have  overpowered  them,  if  they  had 
been  united  to  a  man. 

Your  Committee  had  great  difficulty  in  elicit 
ing  the  proof  of  the  details  in  regard  to  this  secret 
society.  One  witness,  member  of  the  legislative 
council,  refused  to  answer  questions  in  reference 
to  it  (2).  Another  declined  to  answer  fully,  be 
cause  to  do  so  would  result  to  his  injury  (3). 
Others  could  or  would  only  answer  as  to  the  gene 
ral  purposes  of  the  Society,  but  sufficient  is  dis 
closed  in  the  testimony  to  show  the  influence  it 
had  in  controlling  the  elections  in  the  Territory. 

The  first  election  was  for  a  Delegate  to  Con 
gress.  It  was  appointed  for  the  29th  of  Novem 
ber,  1854.  The  Governor  divided  the  Territory 
into  seventeen  Election-Districts ;  appointed 
Judges  and  prescribed  proper  rules  for  the  elec 
tion.  In  the  1st,  Hid,  VHIth,  IXth,  Xth,  Xllth, 
XHIth,  and  XVIIth  Districts  there  appears  to 
have  been  but  little  if.any  fraudulent  voting. 

The  election  in  the  lid  District  was  held  at  the 
village  of  Douglas,  nearly  fifty  miles  from  the 
Missouri  line.  On  the  day  before  the  election, 
large  companies  of  men  came  into  the  district  in 
wagons  and  on  horseback,  and  declared  that  they 
were  from  the  State  of  Missouri,  and  were  go-ing 
to  Douglas  to  vote.  On  the  morning  of  the 
election  they  gathered  around  the  house  where 
the  election  was  to  be  held.  Two  of  the  Judges 
appointed  by  the  Governor  did  not  appear,  and 
other  Judges  were  elected  by  the  crowd.  All 
then  voted.  In  order  to  make  a  pretense  of 
right  to  vote,  some  persons  of  the  company  kept 
a  pretended  register  of  squatter  claims,  on  which 
any  one  could  enter  his  name  and  then  assert  he 
had  a  claim  in  the  Territory.  A  citizen  of  the 
district  Avho  was  himself  a  candidate  for  Delegate 
to  Congress,  was  told  by  one  of  the  strangers, 
that  he  would  be  abused  and  probably  killed  if  he 
challenged  a  vote  (4).  He  was  seized  by  the  collar, 
called  a  d — d  Abolitionist,  and  was  compelled  to 
seek  protection  in  the  room  with  the  Judges. 
About  the  time  the  polls  were  closed,  these 
strangers  mounted  their  horses  aud_got  into  their 
wagons  and  cried  out — 

"  All  aboard  for  Westport  and  Kansas  City." 
A  number  were  recognized  as  residents  of  Mis 
souri,  and  among  them  was  Samuel  H.  Wopdson, 
a  leading  lawyer  of  Independence.  Of  those 
whose  names  are  on  the  poll-books,  35  were  resi 
dent  settlers  and  226  were  non-residents. 

The  election  in  the  IVth  District  was  held  at 
Dr.  Chapman's,  over  40  miles  from  the  Missouri 
State  line.  It  was  a  thinly-settled  region,  con 
taining  but  47  voters  in  February,  1855,  when 
the  census  was  taken.  On  the  day  before  the 
election,  from  100  to  150  citizens  of  Cass  and 
Jackson  Counties,  Mo.,  came  into  this  district, 
declaring  their  purpose  to  vote,  and  that  they 
were  bound  to  make  Kansas  a  Slave  State,  if 
they  did  it  at  the  point  of  the  sword  (5).  Persons 
of  the  party  en  the  way  drove  each  a  stake  in  the 
ground  and  called  it  a  claim — and  in  one  case 
several  names  were  put  on  one  stake.  The  par 
ty  of  strangers  camped  all  night  near  where  the 

(2)  W.  P.  Richardson.  (3)  0.  C.  Prince,  (4)  John 
A.  Wakefield.  (5)  Peter  Bassinger. 


THE  KANSAS-NEBRASKA  STRUGGLE. 


121 


election  was  to  be  held,  and  in  the  morning  were 
at  tho  election-polls  and  voted.  One  of  their 
party  got  drunk,  and  to  get  rid  of  Dr.  Chapman, 
a  judge  of  the  election,  they  sent  for  him  to  come 
and  see  a  sick  man,  aud  in  his  absence  filled  his 
place  with  another  judge,  who  was  not  sworn. 
They  did  not  deny  or  conceal  that  they  were  re 
sidents  of  Missouri,  and  many  of  them  were  re 
cognized  as  such  by  others.  They  declared  that 
they  were  bound  to  make  Kansas  a  Slave  State. 
They  insisted  upon  their  right  to  vote  in  the  Ter 
ritory  if  they  were  in  it  one  hour.  After  the  elec 
tion  they  again  returned  to  their  homes  in  Mis 
souri,  camping  over  night  on  the  way. 

We  find  upon  the  poll-books  161  names ;  of 
these  not  over  30  resided  in  the  Territory ,  131  were 
non-residents  (6). 

But  few  settlers  attended  the  election  in  the 
Vth  District,  the  District  being  large  and  the  set 
tlement  scattered.  82  votes  were  cast ;  of  these 
between  20  and  30  were  settlers  (7),  and  the  resi 
due  were  citizens  of  Missouri.  They  passed  into 
the  Territory  (8)  by  way  of  the  Santa  Fe  road 
and  by  the  residence  of  Dr.  Westfall,  who  then 
lived  on  the  western  line  of  Missouri  (9).  Some 
little  excitement  arose  at  the  polls  as  to  the  legal 
ity  of  their  voting,  but  they  did  vote  for  Gen. 
Whitfield,  and  said  they  intended  to  make  Kan 
sas  a  Slave  State — and  that  they  had  claims  in 
the  Territory.  Judge  Teazle,  judge  of  the  Court 
in  Jackson  County,  Missouri,  was  present,  but 
did  not  vote  (9).  He  said  he  did  not  intend  to 
vote,  but  came  to  see  that  others  voted.  After 
the  election,  the  Missourians  returned  the  way 
they  came. 

The  election  in  the  Vlth  District  was  held  at 
Fort  Scott,  in  the  southeast  part  of  the  Terri 
tory  and  near  the  Missouri  line.  A  party  of 
about  one  hundred  men,  from  Cass  and  the  coun 
ties  in  Missouri  south  of  it,  went  into  the  Terri 
tory,  traveling  about  45  miles,  most  of  them 
with  their  wagons  and  tents,  and  camping  out 
They  appeared  at  the  place  of  election.  Some 
attempts  were  made  to  swear  them,  but  two  of 
the  Judges  were  prevailed  upon  not  to  do  so,  and 
none  were  sworn,  and  as  many  as  chose  voted. 
There  were  but  few  resident  voters  at  the  polls. 
The  settlement  was  sparse — about  25  actual  set 
tlers  voted  out  of  105  votes  cast,  leaving  80  ille 
gal  votes  (10).  After  the  voting  was  over  the 
Missourians  went  to  their  wagons  and  commenced 
leaving  for  home. 

The  most  shameless  fraud  practiced  upon  the 
rights  of  the  settlers  at  this  election  was  in  the 
Vllth  District.  It  is  a  remote  settlement  about 
75  miles  from  the  Missouri  line,  and  contained  in 
February,  A.  D.  1855,  three  months  afterwards, 
when  the  census  was  taken,  but  53  voters ;  and 
yet  the  poll-books  show  that  604  votes  were  cast. 
The  election  was  held  at  the  house  of  Frey  Mc- 
Gee,  at  a  place  called  "  110."  But  few  of  the 
actual  settlers  were  present  at  the  polls  (11).  A 
witness  who  formerly  resided  in  Jackson  County, 
Mo.,  and  was  well  acquainted  with  the  citizens 
of  that  county  (12),  says  that  he  saw  a  great 
many  wagons  and  tents  at  the  place  of  election, 
and  many  individuals  he  knew  from  Jackson 
County.  "He  was  in  their  tents  and  conversed 
with  some  of  them,  and  they  told  him  they  had 
come  with  the  intention  of  voting.  He  went  to 
the  polls  intending  to  vote  for  Flonnekin,  and 
his  ticket  being  of  a  different  color  from  the  rest, 
his  vote  was  challenged  by  Frey  McGee,  who 
had  been  appointed  one  of  the  Judges  but  did 
not  serve.  Lemuel  Ralstone,  a  ^citizen  of  Mis 
souri,  was  acting  in  his  place.  The  witness  then 
challenged  the  vote  of  a  young  man  by  the 

(6)  Thomas  Hopkins,  Rubin  Racket,  Perry  Fuller, 
John  F.  Lucas.  (7)  James  W.  Wilson.  (8)  Dr.  13.  C. 
Westfall.  (9)  J.  W.  Wilson.  (10)  S.  0.  Prince.  (11) 
Matthias  A.  Heed.  (12)  Wm.  F.  Johnstone. 


name  of  Nolan,  whom  he  knew  to  reside  in  Jack 
son  County.  Finally  the  thing  was  hushed  up 
as  the  witness  had  a  good  many  friends  there 
from  that  county,  and  it  might  lead  to  a  fight  if 
he  challenged  any  more  votes.  Both  voted  and 
lie  then  went  down  to  their  camp.  He  there  saw 
many  of  his  old  acquaintances  whom  he  knew 
had  voted  at  the  election  in  August  previous  in 
Missouri,  and  who  still  resided  in  that  State. 
By  a  careful  comparison  of  the  poll-lists  with  the 
census  rolls,  we  find  but  12  names  on  the  poll- 
book  who  were  voters  when  the  census  was 
taken  three  months  afterwards,  and  we  are  sat 
isfied  that  not  more  than  20  legal  votes  could 
have  been  polled  at  that  election.  The  only  re 
sidents  who  are  known  to  have  voted  are  named 
by  the  witness,  and  are  13  in  number — thus 
leaving  584  illegal  votes  cast  in  a  remote  dis 
trict,  where  the  settlers  within  many  miles  were 
acquainted  with  each  other. 

The  total  number  of  white  inhabitants  in  the 
Xlth  District  in  the  month  of  February,  A.  D. 
1855,  including  men,  women,  and  children,  was 
36,  of  whom  24  were  voters — yet  the  poll  lists  in 
this  District  show  that  245  votes  were  cast  at 
this  election.  For  reasons  stated  hereafter  in 
regard  to  the  election  on  the  30th  of  March,  your 
Committee  were  unable  to  procure  the  attend 
ance  of  witnesses  from  this  District.  From  the 
records  it  clearly  appears  that  the  votes  cast 
could  not  have  been  by  lawful  resident  voters. 
The  best  test,  in  the  absence  of  direct  proof,  by 
which  to  ascertain  the  number  of  legal  votes 
cast,  is  by  a  comparison  of  the  census-roll  with 
the  poll-book — by  which  it  appears  that  but  7 
resident  settlers  voted,  and  238  votes  were  ille 
gally  and  fraudulently  given. 

The  election  in  the  XlVth  District  was  held 
at  the  house  of  Benjamin  Harding,  a  few  miles 
from  the  town  of  St.  Joseph,  Missouri.  Before 
the  polls  were  opened,  a  large  number  of  citi 
zens  of  Buchanan  County,  Missouri,  and  among 
them  many  of  the  leading  citizens  of  St.  Joseph, 
were  at  the  place  of  voting,  aud  made  a  majori 
ty  of  the  company  present.  At  the  time  ap 
pointed  by  the  Governor  for  opening  the  polls, 
two  of  the  Judges  were  not  there,  and  it  became 
the  duty  of  the  legal  voters  present  to  select 
other  Judges.  The  Judge  who  was  present  (13) 
suggested  the  name  of  Mr.  Waterson  as  one  ot 
the  Judges — but  the  crowd  voted  down  the  pro 
position.  Some  discussion  then  arose  as  to  the 
right  of  non-residents  to  vote  for  Judges,  during 
which  Mr.  Bryant  was  nominated  and  elected 
by  the  crowd.  Some  one  nominated  Col.  John 
Scott  as  the  other  Judge,  who  was  then  and  is 
now  a  resident  of  St.  Joseph.  At  that  time  ho 
was  the  City  Attorney  of  that  place,  and  so  con 
tinued  until  this  Spring,  but  he  claimed  that  the 
night  before  he  had  come  to  the  house  of  Mr. 
Bryant,  and  had  engaged  boarding  for  a  month, 
and  considered  himself  a  resident  of  Kansas  on 
that  ground.  The  Judges  appointed  by  the 
Governor  refused  to  put  the  nomination  of  Col. 
Scott  to  vote,  because  he  was  not  a  resident. 
After  some  discussion,  Judge  Leonard,  a  citizen 
of  Missouri,  stepped  forward  and  put  the  vote 
himself;  and  Mr.  Scott  was  declared  by  him  as 
elected  by  the  crowd,  and  served  as  a  Judge  of 
Election  that  day.  After  the  election  was  over 
ho  returned  to  St.  Joseph,  and  never  since  has 
resided  in  the  Territory.  It  is  manifest  that  this 
election  of  a  non-resident  lawyer  as  a  Judge  was 
imposed  upon  the  settlers  by  the  citizens  of  the 
State.  When  the  board  of  Judges  was  thus 
completed,  the  voting  proceeded,  but  the  effect  of 
the  rule  adopted  by  the  Judges  allowed  many,  if 
not  a  majority  of  the  non-residents,  to  vote.  They 
claimed  that  their  presence  on  tho  ground,  ea* 

(13)  Benjamin  Harding, 


122 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  SLAVERY  RESTRICTION. 


pecially  when  they  had  a  claim  in  the  Territory, 
gave  them  a  right  to  vote — under  that  construc 
tion  of  the  law  they  readily,  when  required,  swore 
they  were  "  residents"  and  then  voted.  By  this 
evasion,  as  near  as  your  Committee  can  ascer 
tain  from  the  testimony,  as  many  as  50  illegal 
votes  were  cast  in  this  District  out  of  153,  the 
whole  number  polled. 

The  election  in  the  XVth  District  was  held  at 
Penseman's,  on  Stranger  Creek,  a  few  miles 
from  Weston,  Missouri.  On  the  day  of  the  elec 
tion  a  large  number  of  citizens  of  Platte  County, 
but  chiefly  from  Weston  and  Platte  City,  came 
in  small  parties,  in  wagons  and  on  horseback,  to 
the  polls.  Among  them  were  several  leading 
citizens  of  that  town,  and  the  names  of  many  of 
them  are  given  by  the  witnesses  (14).  They 
generally  insisted  upon  their  right  to  vote,  on  the 
ground  that  every  man  having  a  claim  in  the 
Territory  could  vote,  no  matter  where  he  lived 
(15).  All  voted  who  chose.  No  man  was  chal 
lenged  or  sworn.  Some  of  the  residents  did  not 
vote.  The  purpose  of  the  strangers  in  voting  was 
declared  to  be  to  make  Kansas  a  Slave  State 
(16).  We  find  by  the  poll-books  that  306  votes 
were  cast — of  these  we  find  but  57  are  on  the 
census-rolls  as  legal  voters  in  February  follow 
ing.  Your  Committee  is  satisfied  from  the  testi 
mony  that  not  over  100  of  those  who  voted  had 
any  right  so  to  do,  leaving  at  least  206  illegal 
votes  cast. 

The  election  in  the  XVIth  District  was  held  at 
Leaveuworth.  It  was  then  a  small  village  of 
three  or  four  houses,  located  on  the  Delaware 
Reservation  (17).  There  were  but  comparative 
ly  few  settlers  then  in  the  district,  but  the  num 
ber  rapidly  increased  afterward.  On  the  day 
before  and  on  the  day  of  the  election,  a  great 
many  citizens  of  Platte,  Clay,  and  Ray  counties 
crossed  the  river — most  of  them  camping  in  tenta 


and  wagons  about  the  town,  "  like  a  camp  meet 
ing"  (18).  They  were  in  companies  or  messes  of 
ten  to  fifteen  in  each,  and  numbered  in  all  several 
hundred.  They  brought  their  own  provisions 
and  cooked  it  themselves,  and  were  generally 
armed.  Many  of  them  were  known  by  the  wit 
nesses,  and  their  names  given,  and  their  names 
are  found  upon  the  poll-books.  Among  them 
were  several  persons  of  influence  where  they  re 
sided  in  Missouri,  who  held,  or  had  held,  high 
official  positions  in  that  State.  They  claimed  to 
be  residents  of  the  Territory,  from  the  fact  that 
they  were  then  present,  and  insisted  upon  the 
right  to  vote,  and  did  vote.  Their  avowed  pur 
pose  in  doing  so  was  to  make  Kansas  a  Slave 
State.  These  strangers  crowded  around  the 
polls,  and  it  was  with  great  difficulty  that  the, 
settlers  could  get  to  the  polls  (19).  One  resident 
attempted  to  get  to  the  polls  in  the  afternoon,  but 
was  crowded  and  pulled  back.  He  then  went 
outside  of  the  crowd  and  hurrahed  for  Gen. 
Whitfield,  and  some  of  those  who  did  not  know 
him  said,  "  that's  a  good  Pro-Slavery  man,"  and 
lifted  him  up  over  their  heads  so  that  he  crawl 
ed  on  their  heads  and  put  in  his  vote.  A  person 
who  saw  from  the  color  of  his  ticket  that  it  was 
not  for  Gen.  Whitfield,  cried  out,  "  He  is  a 
damned  Abolitionist — let  him  down  ;"  and  they 
dropped  him  (20).  Others  were  passed  to  the 
polls  in  the  same  way,  and  others  crowded  up 
in  the  best  way  they  could.  After  this  mock 
ery  of  an  election  was  over,  the  non-residents 
returned  to  their  homes  in  Missouri.  Of  the 
312  votes  cast,  not  over  150  were  by  legal 
voters. 

The  following  abstract  exhibits  the  whole  num 
ber  of  votes  at  this  election,  for  each  candidate  ; 
the  number  of  legal  and  illegal  votes  cast  in 
each  district ;  and  the  number  of  legal  votes  in 
each  district  in  February  following  : 


ABSTRACT  OF  CENSUS  AND  ELECTION  OF  NOV.  29,  1854. 


Districts  .... 

PLACE  OP  VOTING. 

3 
1 

i 

Wakefleld  ... 

2 

5" 

B 
D 
9? 
<D 

a 

Scattering  ... 

1 
\ 

Number  Vote 
Census  

Legal  Votes  . 

M 

I 

<1 
o 

i 

i 

i 

j 

:£ 

I 

j 

i 

46 

188 

51 

15 

300 

369 

300 

jj 

235 

20 

Q 

261 

199 

35 

226 

in 

40 

7 

47 

101 

47 

IV 

140 

21 

161 

47 

30 

131 

y 

63 

4 

15 

82 

442 

£o 

52 

VI 

Fort  Scott 

105 

105 

253 

25 

80 

VII 

"116"        „„  

597 

7 

t04 

53 

2 

584 

VIII 

16 

16 

39 

16 

IX 

9 

31 

40 

36 

40 

X 

2 

Q 

29 

37 

63 

37 

XI 

Marvsville  . 

237 

3 

5 

245 

24 

7 

233 

XII 

Warton'a  Store              . 

81 

9 

1 

41 

78 

41 

XIII 

Osawkie 

69 

1 

1 

71 

96 

71 

XIV 

130 

23 

153 

334 

103 

60 

XV 

267 

39 

306 

308 

100 

206 

XVI 

232 

80 

312 

385 

150 

162 

XVII 

49 

13 

62 

50 

62 

28 

Total 

2268 

249 

305 

21 

2871 

1114 

1729 

Thus  your  Committee  find  that  in  this  the  first 
election  in  the  Territory,  a  very  large  majority 
of  the  votes  were  cast  by  citizens  of  the  State  of 


(14)  J.  B.  Crane,  Francis  M.  Peter,  John  W. 
How,  Phineas  Skinner,  H.  B.  Gale.  (15)  J.  B.  Crane. 
(16)  H.  B.  Gale.  (17)  George  H.  Keller,  and  John 
A.Lunday. 


Missouri,  in  violation  of  the  organic  law  of 
the  Territory.  Of  the  legal  votes  oast,  General 
Whitfield  received  a  plurality.  The  settlers  took 
but  little  interest  in  the  election,  not  one-half  of 


(18)  Geo.  H.  Keller.  (19)  John  A.  Lunday,  L.  L. 
Easdreau.    (20)  John  A.  Lunday. 


THE  KANSAS-NEBRASKA  STRUGGLE. 


them  voting.  This  may  be  accounted  for,  from 
the  fact  that  the  settlements  were  scattered  over 
a  great  extent— that  the  term  of  the  Delegate 
to  be  elected  was  short — and  that  the  question 
of  Free  and  Slave  institutions  was  not  general 
ly  regarded  by  them  as  distinctly  at  issue.  Un 
der  these  circumstances  a  systematic  invasion 
from  an  adjoining  State,  by  which  large  numbers 
of  illegal  votes  were  cast  in  remote  and  sparse- 
settlements  for  the  avowed  purpose  of  extend 
ing  Slavery  into  the  Territory,  even  though  it 


123 

did  not  change  the  result  of  the  election,  was  a 
crime  of  great  magnitude.  Its  immediate  effect 
was  to  further  excite  the  people  of  the  Northern 
.States — induce  acts  of  retaliation,  and  exaspe 
rate  the  actual  settlers  against  their  neighbors 
in  Missouri. 

In  January  and  February,  A.  D.  1855,  the 
Governor  caused  an  enumeration  to  be  tak 
en  of  the  inhabitants  and  qualified  voters  in 
the  Territory,  au  abstract  of  which  is  here 
given  : 


ABSTRACT  OF  CENSUS  RETURNS. 


DISTRICTS  — 

g 

& 

£ 

£L 
5" 

• 

Voters  

Minors  

Natives  of  th( 
States  

c5' 

a 

a 
a 

Negroes——. 

22 

CO 

a? 

r 

By 

»  United 

: 

: 

C  W  Babcock 

I 

623 

339 

369 

459 

887 

75 





0  H.  Brown        —  

II 

316 

203 

19.t 

237 

506 

19 

I 

1 

619 

T   W   Hayes 

III 

161 

91 

101 

112 

215 

12 

g 

25'' 

IV 

106 

71 

47 

97 

169 

2 

j 

1 

177 

William  Barbee  

V 

824 

583 

442 

724 

1385 

22 

27 

26 

1407 

William  Barbee 

VI 

492 

318 

253 

418 

791 

12 

11 

11 

810 

J   R    McClure 

VII 

82 

36 

53 

50 

117 

1 

1 

1 

118 

J   R   McClure 

VIII 

50 

27 

39 

28 

76 

7 

13 

10 

83 

M   P.  Conway                 —       .  ... 

IX 

61 

25 

36 

31 

66 

12 

14 

3 

86 

M  F.  Conway 

x 

97 

54 

(•3 

61 

108 

23 

151 

XI 

33 

3 

24 

5 

30 

g 

36 

B.  H.  Tworably       -     —     

XII 

104 

40 

78 

35 

109 

37 

1 

7 

144 

H.  B  Jolly                        .       .   ... 

XIII 

168 

116 

96 

145 

273 

g 

14 

14 

284 

Albert  Heed 

XIV 

655 

512 

334 

301 

46 

1 

35 

1167 

H  B   Jolly 

xv 

492 

381 

308 

448 

846 

16 

15 

15 

873 

Charles  Leib               --   

XVI 

708 

385 

514 

1042 

104 

48 

33 

1188 

XVII 

91 

59 

60 

54 

143 

5 

4 

23 

150 

B.  H.  Twombly    

XVIII 

59 

40 

28 

51 

97 

1 

99 

Total  

5128 

3373 

2905 

3469 

7161 

409 

151 

242 

8501 

On  the  same  day  the  census  was  completed, 
the  Governor  issued  his  Proclamation  for  an 
election  to  be  held  on  the  30th  of  March,  A.  D. 
1855,  for  Members  of  the  Legislative  Assembly 
of  the  Territory.  It  prescribed  the  boundaries 
of  Districts  ;  the  places  for  polls  ;  the  names  of 
Judges  ;  the  appointment  of  members  ;  and  re 
cited  the  qualification  of  voters.  If  it  had  been 
observed,  a  just  and  fair  election  would  have 
reflected  the  will  of  the  people  of  the  Territory. 
Before  the  election,  false  and  inflammatory  ru 
mors  were  biisily  circulated  among  the  people  of 
Western  Missouri.  The  number  and  character  of 
the  emigration  then  passing  into  the  Territory 
were  grossly  exaggerated  and  misrepresented. 
Through  the  active  exertions  of  many  of  its  lead 
ing  citizens,  aided  by  the  secret  societies  before 
referred  to,  the  passions  and  prejudices  of  the 
people  of  that  State  were  greatly  excited.  Seve 
ral  residents  there  have  testified  to  the  character 
of  the  reports  circulated  among,  and  credited  by, 
the  people.  These  efforts  were  successful.  By 
an  organized  movement,  which  extended  from 
Andrew  County  in  the  north  to  Jasper  County 
in  the  south,  and  as  far  eastward  as  Booue  and 
Cole  Counties,  companies  of  men  were  arranged 
in  regular  parties  and  sent  into  every  Council- 
District  in  the.  Territory,  and  into  every  Repre 
sentative  District  but  one.  The  numbers  were 
so  distributed  as  to  control  the  election  in  each 
district.  They  went  to  vote  and  with  the  avowed 
design  to  make  Kansas  a  Slave  State.  They 
were  generally  armed  and  equipped,  carried  with 
them  their  own  provisions  and  tents,  and  so 
marched  into  the  Territory.  The  details  of  this 
invasion  from  the  mass  of  the  testimony  taken 


by  your  Committee,  are  so  voluminous  that  we 
can  here  state  but  the  leading  facts  elicited. 

IST  DISTRICT— MARCH  30, 1855.— LAWRENCE. 

The  company  of  persons  who  marched  into 
this  District,  collected  in  Ray,  Howard,  Carroll, 
Boone,  La  Fayette,  Randolph,  Saline,  and  Cass 
Counties,  in  the  state  of  Missouri.  Their  ex 
penses  were  paid — those  who  could  not  come 
contributing  provisions,  wagons,  etc.  (21).  Pro 
visions  were  deposited,  for  those  who  were  ex 
pected  to  come  to  Lawrence,  in  the  house  of 
William  Lykins,  and  were  distributed  among 
the  Missourians  after  they  arrived  there  (22). 
The  evening  before  and  the  morning  of  the  day 
of  election,  about  1,000  men  from  the  above 
counties  arrived  at  Lawrence,  and  encamped 
in  a  ravine  a  short  distance  from  town,  near  the 
place  of  voting.  They  came  in  wagons — of  which 
there  were  over  one  hundred — and  on  horse 
back,  under  the  command  of  Col.  Samuel  Young, 
of  Boone  County,  Missouri,  and  Clayborne 
F.  Jackson,  of  Missouri.  They  were  armed 
with  guns,  rifles,  pistols,  and  bowie-knives,  and 
had  tents,  music,  and  flags  with  them  (23).  They 
brought  with  them  two  oieces  of  artillery  (24). 

(21)  P.  P.  Vaughan.  Jourdan  Davidson.  (22)  Wm. 
Tates,  0.  W.  Bibcock,  Dr.  John  Day.  (28)  E.  D. 
Ladd,  Norman  Allen,  Wm  Yates,  Win.  B.  Hornsby, 
G  W.  Dietzler,  C.  W.  Kabcock.  Lynaan  Allen.  S.  N., 
Wood,  E.  Chapman,  Robert  Elliott.  N  W.  Blanton, 
Jourdan  Davidson,  Wm.  Lyon.  J.  B.  Abbott,  Ira.  W, 
Ackley,  Dr.  John  Day,  A.  B.  Wade,  John  M.  Banks. 
H.  W.  Buckley.  (24)  E.  Chapman,  Jourdan  Davidson. 


124 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  SLAVERY  RESTRICTION. 


loaded  with  musket-balls  (25).  On  their  way  to 
Lawrence  some  of  them  met  Mr.  N.  B.  Blanton, 
who  had  been  appointed  one  of  the  Judges  of 
Election  by  Gov.  Reeder,  and  after  learning 
from  him  that  he  considered  it  his  duty  to  de 
mand  an  oath  from  them  as  to  their  place  of  re 
sidence,  first  attempted  to  bribe,  and  then  threat 
ened  him  with  hanging,  in  order  to  induce  him  to 
dispense  with  that  oath.  Ill  consequence  of  these 
threats,  he  did  not  appear  at  the  polls  the  next 
morning  to  act  as  Judge  (26). 

The  evening  before  the  election,  while  in  camp, 
the  Missourians  were  called  together  at  the  tent 
of  Captain  Claiborne  F.  Jackson,  and  speeches 
were  made  to  them  by  Col.  Young  and  others, 
calling  for  volunteers  to  go  to  other  districts 
where  there  were  not  Missourians  enough  to 
control  the  election,  and  there  were  more  at 
Lawrence  than  were  needed  there  (27).  Many 
volunteered  to  go,  and  the  morning  of  the  elec 
tion,  several  companies,  from  150  to  200  men 
each,  went  off  to  Tecumseh,  Hickory  Point, 
Bloomington,  and  other  places  (28).  On  the 
morning  of  the  election,  the  Missourians  came 
over  to  the  place  of  voting  from  their  camp,  in 
bodies  of  one  hundred  at  a  time  (29).  Mr.  Blan 
ton  not  appearing,  another  Judge  was  appointed 
in  his  place — Col.  Young  claiming  that,  as  the 
people  of  the  Territory  had  two  Judges,  it  was 
nothing  more  than  right  that  the  Missourians 
should  have  the  other  one,  to  look  after  their  in 
terests  (30) ;  and  Robert  E.  Cummins  was  elect 
ed  in  Blanton's  stead,  because  he  considered 
that  every  man  had  a  right  to  vote  if  he  had 
been  in  the  Territory  but  an  hour  (31).  The  Mis 
sourians  brought  their  tickets  with  them,  (32)  ; 
but  not  having  enough,  they  had  three  hundred 
more  printed  in  Lawrence  on  the  evening  before 
and  the  day  of  election  (33).  They  had  white 
ribbons  in  their  button-holes  to  distinguish  them 
selves  from  the  settlers  (34). 

When  the  voting  commenced,  the  question  of 
the  legality  of  the  vote  of  a  Mr.  Page  was  raised. 
Before  it  was  decided,  Col.  Samuel  Young  stepped 
up  to  the  window  where  the  votes  were  received, 
and  said  he  would  settle  the  matter.  The  vote 
of  Mr.  Page  was  withdrawn,  and  Col.  Young 
offered  to  vote.  He  refused  to  take  the  oath 
prescribed  by  the  Governor,  but  swore  he  was  a 
resident  of  the  Territory,  upon  which  his  vote 
was  received  (35).  He  told  Mr.  Abbott,  one  of 
the  Judges,  when  asked  if  he  intended  to  make 
Kansas  his  future  home,  that  it  was  none  of  his 
business ;  that  if  he  were  a  resident  then,  he 
should  ask  no  more  (36).  After  his  vote  was  re 
ceived,  Col.  Young  got  up  in  the  window-sill  and 
announced  to  the  crowd  that  he  had  been  per 
mitted  to  vote,  and  they  could  all  come  up  and 
vote  (37).  He  told  the  Judges  that  there  was  no 
use  in  swearing  the  others,  as  they  would  all 
swear  as  he  had  done  (38).  After  the  other  Judges 
concluded  to  receive  Col.  Young's  vote,  Mr.  Ab 
bott  resigned  as  Judge  of  Election,  and  Mr. 
Benjamin  was  elected  m  his  place  (3D). 

The  polls  were  so  much  crowded  until  late  in 
the  evening,  that,  for  a  time,  when  the  men  had 
voted,  they  were  obliged  to  get  out  by  being 
hoisted  up  on  the  roof  of  the  building  where  the 
election  was  being  held,  and  pass  out  over  the 

(25)  B.  Chapman.  (26)  N.  B.  Blanton.  (27)  Norman 
Allen,  J  Davidson.  (28)  Norman  Allen,  Wm.  Yates, 
W.  B.  Hornsby.C.  W.  Babcock,  8.  N.  Wood,  J.  David- 
eon,  A.  B.  Wade.  (29)  E.  D.  Ladd.  (30)  S.  N.  Wood. 
(31)  E.  A.  Cummins.  Norman  Allen,  S.  N.  Wood,  C,  S. 
Pratt,  J.  B.  Abbott.  (32)  C.  W,  Babcock,  Robert 
Elliott.  (33)  Robert  Elliott.  (34)  E.  W.  Dietzler. 
(35)  E.  D  Ladd,  Norman  Allen,  S.  N.  Wood,  C.  8. 
Pratt,  J,  B.  Abbott.  (36)  Norman  Allen,  J.  B,  Abbott. 
(37)  E.  D.  Ladd,  Norman  Allen,  S.  N.  Wood,  C.  S. 
Pratt.  J.  B.  Abbott  (38)  C.  W.  Babcock,  J.  B.  Abbott. 

AbboU  W'  Bdb°OCk'  8>  N>  Woo(J'  °-   8'  Pratt-  J'  B' 


house  (40).  Afterward  a  passage-way  through 
the  crowd  was  made,  by  two  lines  of  men  being 
formed,  through  which  the  voters  could  get  up 
to  the  polls  (41).  Col.  Young  asked  that  the  old 
men  be  allowed  to  go  up  first  and  vote,  as  they 
were  tired  with  the  traveling,  and  wanted  to  get 
back  to  camp  (42). 

The  Missourians  sometimes  came  up  to  the 
polls  in  procession,  two  by  two,  and  voted  (43). 

During  the  day  the  Missourians  drove  off  the 
ground  some  of  the  citizens,  Mr.  Stevens,  Mr. 
Bond,  and  Mr.  Willis  (44).  They  threatened  to 
shoot  Mr.  Bond,  and  a  crowd  rushed  after  him 
threatening  him,  and  as  he  ran  from  them  some 
shots  were  fired  at  him  as  he  jumped  off  the  bank 
of  the  river  and  made  his  escape  (45).  The  citi 
zens  of  the  town  went  over  in  a  body,  late  in  the 
afternoon,  when  the  polls  had  become  compara 
tively  clear,  and  voted  (46). 

Before  the  voting  had  commenced,  the  Mis 
sourians  said,  if  the  Judges  appointed  by  the 
Governor  did  not  receive  their  votes,  they  would 
choose  other  Judges  (47).  Some  of  them  voted 
several  times,  changing  their  hats  or  coats  and 
coming  up  to  the  window  again  (48).  They  said 
they  intended  to  vote  first,  and  after  they  had 
got  through  then  the  others  could  vote  (4!i). 
Some  of  them  claimed  a  right  to  vote  under  the 
organic  act,  from  the  fact  that  their  mere  pre 
sence  in  the  Territory  constituted  them  residents, 
though  they  were  from  Wisconsin,  and  had  homes 
in  Missouri  (50).  Others  said  they  had  a  right 
to  vote,  because  Kansas  belonged  to  Missouri, 
and  people  from  the  east  had  no  right  to  settle  in 
the  Territory  and  vote  there  (51).  They  said  they 
came  to  the  Territory  to  elect  a  legislature  to 
suit  themselves,  as  the  people  of  the  Territory 
and  persons  from  the  east  and  north  wanted  to 
elect  a  legislature  that  would  not  suit  them  (52). 
They  said  they  had  a  right  to  make  Kansas  a 
Slave  State,  because  the  people  of  the  north  bad 
sent  persons  out  to  make  it  a  Free  State  (53). 
Some  claimed  that  they  had  heard  that  the  Emi 
grant  Aid  Society  had  sent  men  out  to  be  at  the 
election,  and  they  came  to  offset  their  votes;  but 
the  most  of  them  made  no  such  claim.  Col. 
Young  said  he  wanted  the  citizens  to  vote  in 
order  to  give  the  election  some  show  of  fairness 
(54).  The  Missourians  said  there  would  be  no 
difficulty  if  the  citizens  did  not  interfere  with 
then:  voting,  but  they  were  determined  to  vote — 
peaceably,  if  they  could,  but  vote  any  how  (55). 
They  said  each  one  of  them  was  prepared  for 
eight  rounds  without  loading,  and  would  go  the 
ninth  round  with  the  butcher  knife  (56).  Some 
of  them  said  that  by  voting  in  the  Territory,  they 
would  deprive  themselves  of  the  right  to  vote  in 
Missouri  for  twelve. months  afterward  (57). 

The  Missourians  began  to  leave  the  afternoon 
ot  the  day  of  election,  though  some  did  not  go 
home  until  the  next  morning  (58). 

In  many  cases,  when  a  wagon-load  had  voted, 

(40)  E.  D.  Ladd,  NormaiTAllen,  C.  W.  Babcock,  Ly- 
man  Allen,  J.  M.  Banks.  (41)  E.  D.  Ladd,  Norman 
Allen,  Lyman  Allen.  (42)  Lyman  Allen,  E.  D.  Ladd. 
(43)  E.  D.  Ladd,  Ira  W.  Ackley.  (44)  E.  D.  Ladd,  C. 
W.  Babcock,  Lyman  Allen,  S.  N.  Wood,  N.  B.  Blanton, 
John  JUey.  J  Davidson, Charles  Robinson.  (45)  E.  D. 
Ladd,  C.  W.  Babcock,  Lyman  Allen,  S.  N.  Wood.  N. 
B.  Blanton,  J.  Davidson,  Dr.  John  Dey.  (46)  E.  D 
Ladd,  C.  Robinson,  A.  B.  Wade,  J.  Whitlock,  J.  M. 
Banks,  H.  W.  Buckley.  (47)  G.  W.  Deitzler.  (48)  S. 
N.  Wood,  Ira  W.  Ackley.  (49)  J.Davidson.  (50)  E. 
D.  Ladd.  Norman  Allen,  Lyman  Allen.  (51)  W.  B. 
Hornsb/,  C.  W.  Babcock,  C.  Robinson.  (52)  Wm. 
Yates,  Thos.  Hopkins,  Ira  W.  Ackley.  (53)  Lyman  Al 
len,  J.  Davidson.  (54)  Norman  Allen.  (55)  Norman  Al 
len,  Lyman  Allen,  C.  W.  Babcock,  S.  N.  Wuod,  F.  Chap 
man,  Thos.  Hopkins.  (56;  Jourdau  Davidson.  (57)  J.  B. 
Abbott,  (58)  E.  D.  Ladd,  Norman  Allen,  Wra.  Yates, 
W.  B.  Hornsby.  GK  W.  Dietzler,  C.  W.  Babcock,  C. 
Robinson,  E,  Chapman,  Lyman  Allen,  J,  David- 
ton, 


THE  KANSAS-NEBRASKA  STRUGGLE. 


125 


they  immediately  started  for  home  (59).  On 
their  way  home  they  said  that  if  Governor 
Reeder  did  not  sanction  the  election,  they  would 
hang  him  (60). 

The  citizens  of  the  town  of  Lawrence,  as  a 
general  thing,  were  not  armed  on  the  day  of 
election,  though  some  had  revolvers,  but  not 
exposed,  as  were  the  arms  of  the  Missourians  (61). 
They  kept  a  guard  about  the  town  the  night 
after  the  election,  in  consequence  of  the  threats 
of  the  Missourians,  in  order  to  protect  it  (62). 

The  Pro-Slavery  men  of  the  District  attended 
the  nominating  Conventions  of  the  Free-State 
men,  and  voted  for,  and  secured  the  nominations 
of,  the  men  they  considered  the  most  obnoxious 
to  the  Free-State  party,  in  order  to  cause  dis 
sension  in  that  party  (63). 

Quite  a  number  of  settlers  came  into  the  Dis 
trict  before  the  day  of  election,  and  after  the 
census  was  taken  (64).  According  to  the  census 
returns,  there  were  then  in  the  District  369  legal 
voters.  Of  those  whose  names  are  on  the  census 
returns,  177  are  to  be  found  on  the  poll-books  of 
the  30th  of  March,  1855.  Messrs.  Ladd,  Babcock, 
and  Pratt,  testify  to  55  names  on  the  poll-books 
of  persons  they  knew  to  have  settled  in  the  Dis 
trict  after  the  census  was  taken  and  before  the 
election.  A  number  of  persons  came  into  the 
Territory  in  March,  before  the  election,  from  the 
northern  and  eastern  States,  intending  to  settle, 
who  were  in  Lawrence  on  the  day  of  election. 
At  that  time,  many  of  them  had  selected  no 
claims,  and  had  no  fixed  place  of  residence. 
Such  were  not  entitled  to  vote.  Many  of  them 
became  dissatisfied  with  the  country.  Others 
were  disappointed  in  its  political  condition,  and 
at  the  price  and  demand  tor  labor,  and  returned. 
Whether  any  such  voted  at  the  election,  is  not 
clearly  shown,  but  from  the  proof,  it  is  probable 
that  in  the  latter  part  of  the  day,  after  the  great 
body  of  the  Missourians  had  voted,  some  did  go 
to  the  polls.  The  number  was  not  over  50.  These 
voted  the  Free-State  ticket.  The  whole  number 
of  names  appearing  upon  the  poll-lists  is  1,034. 
After  full  examination,  we  are  satisfied  that  not 
over  232  of  these  were  legal  voters,  and  802  were 
non-resident  and  illegal  voters.  This  District  is 
strongly  in  favor  of  making  Kansas  a  Free  State, 
and  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  Free-State  candi 
dates  for  the  legislature  would  have  been  elected 
by  large  majorities,  if  none  but  the  actual  settlers 
had  voted.  At  the  preceding  election  in  Novem 
ber,  1854,  where  none  but  legal  voters  were 
polled,  General  Whitfield,  who  received  the  full 
strength  of  the  Pro-Slavery  party  (65),  got  but 
46  votes. 

II.  DISTRICT — BLOOMINGTON. 

On  the  morning  of  election,  the  Judges  ap 
pointed  by  the  Governor  appeared  and  opened 
the  polls.  Their  names  were  Harrison  Burson, 
Nathaniel  Ramsay,  and  Mr.  Ellison.  The  Mis 
sourians  began  to  come  in  early  in  the  morning, 
some  5UO  or  (500  of  them,  in  wagons  and  carriages, 
and  on  horseback,  under  the  lead  of  Samuel  J. 
Jones,  then  Postmaster  of  Westport,  Missouri, 
Claiborue  F.  Jackson,  and  Mr.  Steely,  of  Inde 
pendence,  Mo.  They  were  armed  with  double- 
barreled  guns,  rifles,  bowie-knives  and  pistols, 
and  had  flags  hoisted  (66).  They  held  a  sort  of 
informal  election,  off  at  one  side,  at  first  for  Gov 
ernor  of  Kansas,  and  shortly  afterward  announced 
Thomas  Johnson  of  Shawnee  Missions,  elected 
Governor  (67).  The  polls  had  been  opened  but 

(59)  S.  N.  Wood.  (60)  Gaius  Jenkins.  (61)  E.  D. 
Ladd.  (02)  E.  D.  Ladd.  (63)  A.  B  Wade.  (64)  E. 
D.  Ladd.  Norman  Allen,  C.  W.  Babcock,  <'harle.>  Rob 
inson,  Lyman  Allen.  J.  M.  Banks.  («5;  James  Whit- 
lock.  (66)  H.  Burson,  N.  Ramsay,  Jurat's  M.  Dunn, 
Andrew  White,  nr.  E.  G.  Macoy,  H.  Muzzy,  Wm.  Jes- 
see,  John  A.  Wakeneld.  (67)  E.  G.  Macey. 


I  a  short  time,  when  Mr.  Jones  marched  with  the 
crowd  up  to  the  window,  and  demanded  that  they 
should  be  allowed  to  vote  without  swearing  as 
to  their  residence  (68).  After  some  noisy  and 
threatening  talk  Claiborne  F.Jackson  addressed 
the  crowd,  saying  they  had  come  there  to  vote, 
that  they  had  a  right  to  vote  if  they  had  been 
there  but  five  minutes,  and  he  was  not  willing  to 
go  home  without  voting ;  which  was  received 
with  cheers  (69).  Jackson  then  called  upon  them 
to  form  into  little  bands  of  fifteen  or  twenty, 
which  they  did  (70),  and  went  to  an  ox- wagon 
filled  with  guns,  which  were  distributed  among 
them  (71),  and  proceeded  to  load  some  of  them 
on  the  ground  (72).  In  pursuance  of  Jackson's 
request,  they  tied  white  tape  or  ribbons  in  their 
buttonholes,  so  as  to  distinguish  them  from  the 
"  Abolitionists"  (73).  They  again  demanded  that 
the  Judges  should  resign,  and  upon  their  refus 
ing  to  do  so,  smashed  in  the  window,  sash  and 
all,  and  presented  their  pistols  and  guns  to  them, 
threatening  to  shoot  them  (74).  Some  one  on  tho 
outside  cried  out  to  them  not  to  shoot,  as  there 
were  Pro-Slavery  men  in  the  room  with  the 
Judges  (75).  They  then  put  a  pry  under  the  cor 
ner  of  the  house,  which  was  a  log  house,  and 
lifted  it  up  a  few  inches  and  let  it  fail  again  (76), 
but  desisted  upon  being  told  there  were  Pro- 
Slavery  men  in  the  house.  During  this  time  the 
crowd  repeatedly  demanded  to  be  allowed  to  vote 
without  being  sworn,  and  Mr.  Ellison,  one  of  the 
Judges,  expressed  himself  willing,  but  the  other 
two  Judges  refused  (77)  ;  thereupon  a  body  of 
men,  headed  by  "  Sheriff  Jones,"  rushed  into 
the  Judges'  room  with  cocked  pistols  and  drawn 
bowie-knives  in  their  hands,  and  approached 
Burson  and  Ramsay  (78).  Jones  pulled  out  his 
watch,  and  said  he  would  give  them  five  minutes 
to  resign  in,  or  die  (79).  When  the  five  mi 
nutes  had  expired  and  the  Judges  did  not  resign, 
Jones  said  he  would  give  them  another  minute, 
and  no  more  (80).  Ellison  told  his  associates 
that  if  they  did  not  resign,  there  would  be  one 
hundred  shots  fired  in  the  room  in  less  than 
fifteen  minutes  (81) ;  and  then,  snatching  up  the 
ballot-box,  ran  out  into  the  crowd,  holding  up 
the  ballot-box  and  hurrahing  for  Missouri  (82). 
About  that  time  Burson  arid  Ramsay  were  called 
out  by  their  friends,  and  not  suffered  to  return 
(83).  As  Mr.  Burson  went  out,  he  put  the  ballot 
poll-books  in  his  pocket,  and  took  them  with  him 
(84) ;  and  as  he  was  going  out,  Jones  snatched 
some  papers  away  from  him  (85),  and  shortly 
afterward  came  out  himself  holding  them  up, 
crying  "hurrah  for  Missouri '  (86).  After  he  dis 
covered  they  were  not  the  poll-books,  he  took  a 
party  of  men  with  him  and  started  off  to  take 
the  poll-books  from  Burson  (87).  Mr.  Bur*oii 
saw  them  coming,  and  he  gave  the  bucks  to  Mr. 
Umberger,  and  told  him  to  start  off  in  another 
direction,  so  as  to  mislead  Jones  and  his  party 
(88).  Jones  and  his  party  caught  Mr.  Umberger, 
took  the  poll-books  away  from  him,  and  Jones 

(68)  H.  Burson,  N.  Ramsay,  J.  M.  Punn,  A.  White,  E. 
G  Macey,  H.  Muzzy,  Wm  Jessie,  John  A.  Wakeneld. 
((9)  J  M.  Dunn.  A.  White,  E.G.  Macey.  J.  S.  Wakeneld. 
(70)  K.  G.  Macey,  J  A.  Wakerteld.  (71)  J.  M.  Dunn, 
J.  C.  Dunn,  A.  White.  (72)  K.  G  Macey  (73)  J.  M. 
Dunn,  J.  N.  Mace,  A.  White,  E.  G  Macey,  J.  A.  Wake 
neld.  (74)  H.  Burson,  N.  Runway.  76)  J.  C.  Dunn. 
(76)  H.  Burson,  N  Ram-ay,  J  W.  Mace,  J.  C.  Dunn, 
A.  White,  E.  <*.  Macey,  H.  M->zzy,  S.  Jones,  J.  A. 
Wakefield.  (77)  J.  C.  Dun,  (78)  II  Hurson,  N.  Ramsay. 
(79)  H.  Burson,  N.  Ramsay,  J.  C.  Dunn,  H.  Muzzy,  W. 
J^ssee  (80)  II.  Burson,  N.  Ramsay.  H.  Muzzy.  (81)  H. 
Bursoa,  N.  R.-msay,  J.  N.  Macey,  II.  Muzzy,  W.  Jes- 
see,  S.  Jonfs,  J.  A.  Wakeneld.  (82)  H  Hurson,  J.  0. 
Dunn.  (83)  H.  Burson,  N.  Kannny,  J.  C.  Hunn.  A. 
White.  H  Muzzy,  tt  m.  Jess-e.  (84)  II.  Burson,  Wm. 
Jossee.  (85)  H.'tfurson.  (86)  H.  Burton,  J.  M.  Dana, 
E  G  Mac'-y  Win.  Jessee.  (h7)  H.  Hurson,  N.  Ram 
say.  (88)  H.  Bqrsoii,  A.  White,  G.  W.  Umberger,  Wm. 
Jessee. 


126 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  SLAVERY  RESTRICTION. 


took  him  up  behind  him  on  a  horse,  and  carried 
him  back  a  prisoner  (89).  After  Jones  and  his 
party  had  taken  Umberger  back,  they  went  to 
the  house  of  Mr.  Ramsay  and  took  Judge  John 
A.  Wake-field  prisoner,  and  earned  him  to  the 
place  of  election  (90),  and  made  him  get  up  on 
a  wagon  and  make  them  a  speech  ;  after  which 
they  put  a  white  ribbon  in  his  button-hole  and 
let  him  go  (91).  They  then  chose  two  new 
Judges,  and  proceeded  with  the  election 

They  also  threatened  to  kill  the  Judges  if  they 
did  not  receive  their  votes  without  swearing  them, 
or  else  resign  (92).  They  said  no  man  should 
vote  who  would  submit  to  be  sworn — that  they 
would  kill  any  one  who  would  offer  to  do  so — 
"  shoot  him,"  "  cut  his  guts  out,"  etc.  (93).  They 
said  no  man  should  vote  this  day  unless  he  voted 
an  open  ticket,  and  was  "  all  right  on  the  goose," 
(94),  and  that  if  they  could  not  vote  by  fair 
means,  they  would  by  foul  means  (95).  They 
said  they  had  as  much  right  to  vote,  if  they  had 
been  in  the  Territory  two  minutes,  as  if  they  had 
been  there  for  two  years,  and  they  would  vote 
(96).  Some  of  the  citizens  who  were  about  the 
window,  but  had  not  voted  when  the  crowd  of 
Missouriaus  marched  up  there,  upon  attempting 
to  vote,  were  driven  back  by  the  mob,  or  driven 
off  (97).  One  of  them,  Mr.  J.  M.  Macey,  was 
asked  if  he  would  take  the  oath,  and  upon  his  re 
plying  that  he  would  if  the  judges  required  it,  he 
was  dragged  through  the  crowd  away  from  the 
polls,  amid  cries  of  "  Kill  the  d — d  nigger  thief," 
"  Cut  his  throat,"  "  Tear  his  heart  out,"  etc. 
After  they  got  him  to  the  outside  of  the  crowd, 
they  stood  around  him  with  cocked  revolvers  and 
drawn  bowie-knives,  one  man  putting  a  knife  to 
his  heart,  so  that  it  touched  him,  another  holding 
a  cocked  pistol  to  his  ear,  while  another  struck 
at  him  with  a  club  (98).  The  Missourians  said 
they  had  a  right  to  vote  if  they  had  been  in  the 
Territory  but  five  minutes  (99).  Some  said  they 
had  been  hired  to  come  there  and  vote,  and  get 
a  dollar  a  day,  and,  by  G — d,  they  would  vote  or 
die  there  (10J). 

They  said  the  30th  day  of  March  was  an  im 
portant  day,  as  Kansas  would  be  made  a  Slave 
State  on  that  day  (101).  They  began  to  leave  in 
the  direction  of  Missouri  in  the  afternoon,  after 
they  had  voted  (102),  leaving  some  thirty  or  forty 
around  the  house  where  the  election  was  held, 
to  guard  the  polls  until  after  the  election  was 
over  (103).  The  citizens  of  tho  Territory  were  not 
around,  except  those  who  took  part  in  the  mob 
(104),  and  a  large  portion  of  them  did  not  vote 
(105)  ;  341  votes  were  polled  there  that  day,  of 
which  but  some  thirty  were  citizens  (106).  A  pro 
test  against  the  election  was  made  to  the  Gov 
ernor  (107).  The  returns  of  the  election  made  to 
the  Governor  were  lost  by  the  Committee  of 
Elections  of  the  Legislature  at  Pawnee  (108). 
The  duplicate  returns  left  in  the  ballot-box  were 
taken  by  F.  E.  Laley,  one  of  the  Judges  elected 
by  the  Missourians,  and  were  either  lost  or  de- 


(89)  H.  Burson,  N.  Ramsay,  A.  White,  G.  W. 
Umberger,  E  C.  Macey,  Wm.  Jessee.  J.  A  WakefieM. 
(90)  N.  Ramsay,  J.  M.  Dunn,  A.  White,  E.  G.  Macey, 
G.  W.  Umberger,  Wm.  Jessee,  J.  A.  Wakefield.  (91) 

E.  G.  Macey,  G.  W.  Umberger,  J.  A.  Wakefield.     (92) 

F.  Lahey.     (92)  J.    C.    Dunn,   Wm.    Jessee,   J.  Jones. 
(93)  H.  Burson,  N.  Ramsay,  J.  M.  Dunn,  J.  N.    Mace, 
A.  White,  E.  G    Macey.  W.  Jessee.     (94)  N.  Ramsay 
(95)  H.  Burson,  N.  Ramsay,  J.    M.   Dunn.    (96)  J.  M. 
Dunn.    (97)  II    Burson,  N.  Ramsay,  Wm.  Jessee.  J.  N. 
Macey.     (98)  J.  N.  Macey,  H.  Muzzy.    (99)  J.  M.  Dunn, 
A.  Whit**,  E.  G.  Macey.   J.  A.    Wakefield.     000)  J.  M.  ! 
Dunn,  J.  C.  Dunn,  A.  White.     (101)  N.  Ramsay.  (102)  ' 
J.  C.    Dunn,    A.   White.     (103)    A     White.     (104)    H.  ; 
Burson.     (105)  H.  Burson.  J.  N.  Mace,  H.  Muzzy,  Wm. 
Jessee,    J.    A.   Wakefield     (106)    H    Burs  .11       (107) 
8.    Jones,    J.    A.    Wakefield.      (108)    Daniel   Wood 
man. 


stroyed  in  his  house  (109),  so  that  your  Commit 
tee  nave  been  unable  to  institute  a  comparison 
between  the  poll-lists  and  census  returns  of  this 
district.  The  testimony,  however,  is  uniform, 
that  not  even  thirty  of  those  who  voted  there 
that  day  were  entitled  to  vote,  leaving  311  illegal 
votes.  We  are  satisfied  from  the  testimony  that, 
had  the  actual  settlers  alone  voted,  the  Free 
State  candidates  would  have  been  elected  by  a 
handsome  majority. 

IIIo  DISTRICT — TKCCMSEH. 

On  the  28th  of  March,  persons  from  Clay, 
Jackson,  and  Howard  Counties,  Mo.,  began  to 
come  into  Tecumseh,  in  wagons,  carriages  and 
on  horseback,  armed  with  guns,  bowie-knives, 
and  revolvers;  and,  with  threats, encamped  close 
by  the  town,  and  continued  coming  until  the 
day  of  election  (110).  The  night  before  the  elec 
tion  200  men  were  sent  for  from  the  camp  of 
Missourians  at  Lawrence  (111).  On  the  morning 
of  the  election,  before  the  polls  were  opened,  some 
300  or  400  Missourians  and  others  were  collected  in 
the  yard  about  the  house  of  Thomas  Stinson,  where 
the  election  was  to  be  held,  armed  with  bowie- 
knives,  revolvers,  and  clubs  (112).  They  said  they 
came  to  vote,  and  whip  the  damned  Yankees,  and 
would  vote  without  being  sworn  (113).  Some  said 
they  came  to  have  a  fight  arid  wanted  one  (114). 
Col.  Samuel  H.  Woodson  of  Independence,  Mo., 
was  in  the  room  of  the  Judges  when  they  arrived, 
preparing  poll-books  and  tally-lists,  and  remain 
ed  there  during  their  attempts  to  organize  (114). 
The  room  of  the  Judges  was  also  filled  by  many  of 
the  strangers  (115).  The  Judges  could  not  agree 
concerning  the  oath  to  be  taken  by  themselves 
and  the  oath  to  be  administered  to  the  voters, 
Mr.  Burgess  desiring  to  administer  the  oath  pre 
scribed  by  the  Governor  and  the  other  two 
Judges  opposing  it  (116).  During  this  discussion 
between  the  Judges,  which  lasted  some  time,  the 
crowd  outside  became  excited  and  noisy,  threat 
ening  and  cursing  Mr.  Burgess,  the  Free-State 
Judge  (117).  Persons  were  sent  at'  different 
times,  by  the  crowd  outside,  into  the  room  where 
the  Judges  were,  with  threatening  messages,  es 
pecially  against  Mr.  Burgess,  and  at  last  ten  min 
utes  were  given  them  to  organize  in  or  leave  ;  and 
as  the  time  passed,  persons  outside  would  call  out 
the  number  of  minutes  left,  with  threats  against 
Burgess,  if  he  did  not  agree  to  organize  (118). 
At  the  end  of  that  time,  the  Judges  not  being 
able  to  organize,  left  the  room  and  the  crowd 
proceeded  to  elect  nine  Judges  and  carry  on  the 
election  (119).  The  Free-State  men  generally 
left  the  ground  without  voting,  stating  that  there 
was  no  use  in  their  voting  there  (120).  The  polls 
were  so  crowded  during  the  first  part  of  the  day 
that  the  citizens  could  not  get  up  to  the  window 
to  vote  (121).  Threats  were  made  against 
the  Free-State  men  (122).  In  the  afternoon  the 
liev.  Mr.  Gispatrick  was  attacked  and  driven  off 
by  the  mob.  A  man,  by- some  called  "  Texas," 
made  a  speech  to  the  crowd  urging  them  to  vote 
and  to  remain  on  the  ground  until  the  polls  were 
closed,  for  fear  the  abolitionists  would  come  there 
in  the  afternoon  and  overpower  them,  and  thus 
they  would  lose  all  their  trouble. 

For  making  an  affidavit  in  a  protest  against  this 

(109)  F.  E.  Laley.  (110)  W.  A.  M.  Vaughan,  M.  J.  J. 
Mitchell,  John  Long.  (Ill)  H.  B.  Burgess.  (112)  The 
Rev.  H.  B.  Burgess,  Charles  Jordan,  J/.mes  Hickey.  L. 
0.  Wilworth,  D.  II.  Howe,  J.  M.  Merrian,  W.  R. 
Ba?gs.  W.  A  M.  Vaughn.  (113)  John  Long,  L.  0. 
Wilworth.  George  Holmes.  (114)  L.  0.  Wilworth. 
(115)  A.  W.  Burgees.  (116)  H.  B.  Burgess,  George 
Holmes.  (117)  H  B.  Burgess,  John  Long,  D.  H. 
Home.  (118)  H.  B.  Burgess,  Charles  Jordan,  H.  D. 
Home.  (119.  H.  B.  Burgess,  Charles  Jordan,  J.  M. 
Merrian,  Geo  Holmes.  (120)  H.  B  Burgess,  C.  Jor 
dan,  J.  M.  Merrian.  (121)  L.  0.  Wilworth.  (122)  C. 
Jordan. 


THE  KANSAS  NEBRASKA  STRUGGLE, 


127 


election,  setting  forth  the  facts,  Mr.  Burgess  was 
indicted  by  the  Grand  Jury  for  perjury,  which  in 
dictment  was  found  more  than  fifteen  months  ago, 
and  is  still  pending,  Mr.  Burgess  never  having 
been  informed  who  his  accuser  was  or  what  was 
the  testimony  against  him  (123).  A  large  ma 
jority,  four  to  one,  of  the  actual  settlers  of  that 
district  were  Free  State  men  (124),  and  there 
cannot  be  the  least  doubt,  if  none  but  the 
actual  settlers  of  the  district  had  voted  at  that 
election,  that  the  Free-State  candidate  would 
have  been  elected.  The  number  of  legal  votes 
in  the  district,  according  to  the  census  returns, 
was  101.  The  total  number  of  votes  cast  was 
372,  and  of  these  but  thirty-two  are  on  the  re 
turns,  and  from  the  testimony  and  records,  we 
are  satisfied  that  not  over  forty  legal  votes  were 
cast  at  that  election.  A  body  of  armed  Missou 
rians  came  into  the  district  previous  to  the  elec 
tion,  and  encamped  there  (125).  Before  the  time 
arrived  for  opening  the  polls,  the  Missourians 
went  to  another  than  the  town  appointed  for  the 
election  ;  and  one  of  the  Judges  appointed  by  the 
Governor,  and  two  chosen  by  the  Missourians, 
proceeded  to  open  the  polls  and  carry  on  the 
election  (126).  The  Missourians  said  none  but 
Pro-Slavery  men  should  vote,  and  threatened  to 
Bhoot  any  Free-State  man  who  should  come  up 
to  vote  (127).  Mr.  Mockbee,  one  of  the  judges 
elected  by  the  Missourians,  had  a  store  near  the 
boundary  fixed  by  the  proclamation  of  the 
Governor,  while  he  cultivated  a  farm  in  Missouri, 
where  his  family  lived  (128),  and  where  his  legal 
residence  was  then  and  is  now.  The  Missourians 
also  held  a  side-election  for  governor  of  the  Terri 
tory,  voting  for  Thomas  Johnson  of  Shawnee  Mis 
sion  (129).  The  Free-State  men  finding  the  polls 
under  the  control  of  the  non-residents,  refused  to, 
and  did  not,  vote  (130).  They  constituted  a  de 
cided  majority  of  the  actual  settlers  (131).  A 
petition  signed  by  a  majority  of  the  residents  of 
the  district  was  sent  to  the  Governor  (132).  The 
whole  number  of  voters  in  this  district,  accord 
ing  to  the  census  returns,  was  forty-seven  ;  the 
number  of  votes  cast  was  eighty,  of  whom  but 
fifteen  were  residents,  the  number  of  residents 
whose  names  are  on  the  census-rolls,  who  did 
not  vote,  was  thirty-two. 

For  some  days  prior  to  the  election,  compa 
nies  of  men  were  organized  in  Jackson,  Cass,  and 
Clay  counties,  Mo.,  for  the  purpose  of  coming  to 
the  Territory  and  voting  in  this  Vth  district 
(133).  The  day  previous  to  the  election,  some 
400  or  500  Missourians,  armed  with  guns,  pistols, 
and  knives,  came  into  the  Territory  and  camped, 
some  at  Bull  Creek,  and  others  at  Potawatainie 
Creek  (134.)  Their  camps  were  about  sixteen  miles 
apart.  On  the  evening  before  the  election,  Judge 
Hamilton  of  the  Cas^  County  Court,  Mo.,  came 
from  the  Potawatainie  Creek  camp  to  Bull  Creek 
for  sLxty  more  Missourians,  as  they  had  not 
enough  there  to  render  the  election  certain,  find 
about  that  number  went  down  there  with  him  (135). 
On  the  evening  before  the  election,  Dr.  B.  C. 
Westfall  was  elected  to  act  as  one  of  the  Judges 
of  Election  in  the  Bull  Creek  precinct,  in  place 
of  one  of  the  Judges  appointed  by  the  Governor, 
who,  it  was  said,  would  not  be  there  the  next  day 
(136).  Dr.  Westfall  was  at  that  time  a  citizen  of 
Jackson  county,  Mo.  (137).  On  the  morning  of 


(123)  H.  B.  Burgess.  (124)  H.  B.  Burgess. 
(125)  Ferry  Fuller,  Peter  Bassmger.  (126)  Perry  Ful 
ler,  Wm.  Moore,  J.  F.  Javens.  (127)  J.  F.  Javeus. 

(128)  Wm.    Moore,   J.  F.  Juvens,     Thomas  Mockbee. 

(129)  Ptrry  Fuller,  William  Moore.     (130)  Perry  tful 
ler,  Wm.  Moore,  J.  F.  Javens,  T.  Mockbee.     (131)  Per 
ry  Fuller,  Wm.  Moore,  J.  F.  Javens.     (132)  Perry  Ful 
ler,  .1.  F.  Javens.     (133)  Dr.  B.  C.  Westt'all,  Joseph  M. 
Gearh  >rt.     (134)  Dr.  B.  C.  Westfal).  Jeseee  W.  Wilson, 
J.  M.  Genrhart.    (135)  Dr.  B.   C.    Westfall.     (136)   Dr. 
B.  C.  Westfall.    (137)  Dr.  B.  Weatfall,  J.  W.  Wilson. 


|  the  election,  the  polls  for  Bull  Creek  precinct 
j  were  opened,  and,  without  swearing  the  Judges, 
j  they  proceeded  to  receive  the  votes  of  all  who  of 
fered  to  vote.  For  the  sake  of  appearance  they 
would  get  some  one  to  come  to  the  window  and 
offer  to  vote,  and  when  asked  to  be  sworn  he 
would  pretend  to  grow  angry  at  the  Judges  and 
would  go  away,  and  his  name  would  be  put  down 
as  having  offered  to  vote,  but  "rejected,  refus 
ing  to  be  sworn."  This  arrangement  was  made 
previously  and  perfectly  understood  by  the 
Judges  (138).  But  few  of  the  residents  of  the 
district  were  present  at  the  election,  and  only 
thirteen  voted  (139).  The  number  of  votee  cast 
in  the  precinct  was  393. 

One  Missourian  voted  for  himself  and  then 
voted  for  hia  little  son,  but  10  or  11  years  old 
(140).  Col.  Coffer.  Henry  Younger  and  Mr.  Ly- 
kins,  who  were  voted  for  and  elected  to  the  Le 
gislature,  were  residents  of  Missouri  at  the  time 
(141).  Col.  Coffer  subsequently  married  in  the 
Territory.  After  the  polls  were  closed  the  re 
turns  were  made,  and  a  man,  claiming  to  be  a 
magistrate,  certified  on  them  that  he  had  sworn 
the  Judges  of  Election  before  opening  the  polls 
(142).  In  the  Potawatamie  precinct  the  Misspu- 
riaris  attended  the  election,  and  after  threatening 
Mr.  Chesnut,  the  only  Judge  present  appointed 
by  the  Governor,  to  induce  him  to  resign,  they 
proceeded  to  elect  two  other  Judges — one  a 
Missourian  and  the  other  a  resident  of  another 
precinct  of  that  District.  The  polls  were  then 
opened,  and  all  the  Misseurians  were  allowed  to 
vote  without  being  sworn. 

After  the  polls  were  closed,  and  the  returns 
made  out  for  the  signature  of  the  Judges,  Mr. 
Chesnut  refused  to  sign  them,  as  he  did  not  con 
sider  them  correct  returns  of  legal  voters. 

Col.  Coffer,  a  resident  of  Missouri,  but  elected 
to  the  Kansas  Legislature  from  that  District  at 
that  election,  endeavored  with  others  to  induce 
Mr.  Chesnut  by  threats  to  sign  the  returns, 
which  he  refused  to  do,  and  left  the  House.  On 
his  way  home  he  was  fired  at  by  some  Missou- 
I  rians,  "though  not  injured  (143).  There  were 
three  illegal  to  one  legal  vote  given  there  that 
day  (144).  At  the  Big  Layer  precinct,  the 
Judges  appointed  by  the  Governor  met  at  the 
time  appointed,  and  proceeded  to  open  the  polls, 
after  being  duly  sworn.  After  a  few  Votes  had 
been  received,  a  party  of  Missourians  came  into 
the  yard  of  the  house  where  the  election  was 
held,  and,  unloading  a  wagon  filled  with  arms, 
stacked  their  guns  in  the  yard,  and  came  up  to 
the  window  and  demanded  to  be  admitted  to 
vote.  Two  of  the  Judges  decided  to  receive  their 
votes,  whereupon  the  third  Judge,  Mr.  J.  M.  Ar 
thur,  resigned,  and  another  was  chosen  in  his 
place.  Col.  Young,  a  citizen  of  Missouri,  but  a 
candidate  for,  and  elected  to,  the  Territorial  Le 
gislative  Council,  was  present  and  voted  in 
the  precinct.  He  claimed  that  ail  Missourians 
j  who  were  present  on  the  day  of  election  were 
i  entitled  to  vote.  But  thirty  or  forty  of  the  citi- 
,  zens  of  the  precinct  were  present,  and  many  of 
them  did  not  vote  (145).  At  the  Little  Sugar 
precinct,  the  election  seemed  to  have  been  con 
ducted  fairly,  and  there  a  Free-State  majority 
was  polled  (146).  From  the  testimony,  the  whole 
District  appears  to  have  been  largely  Free  State, 
and  had  none  but  actual  settlers  voted,  the  Free- 
State  candidates  would  have  been  elected  by  a 
large  majority.  From  a  careful  examination  of 
the  testimony  and  the  records,  we  find  that  from 
200  to  225  legal  votes  were  polled  out  of  885( 

(138)  Dr  B.  C.  Westfall.  (139)  J.  W.  Wilson. 
(140)  Dr  B  0.  Westfall,  J.  W.  Wilson.  (141)  Dr. 
B  C  Westfall,  J.  M.  Gearhart.  (142)  Dr  B.  C. 
Westfall.  (143)  William  Chestnut.  (144)  William 
Che.stL.ut.  (145)  James  M.  Arthur.  (146)  S.  W. 
Bouton. 


128 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  SLAVERY  RESTRICTION. 


the  total  number  given  in  the  precincts  of  the 
Vth  District-  Of  tiie  legal  votes  cast,  the  Free- 
State  candidates  received  152. 

VIxH  DISTRICT— FORT  SCOTT. 

A  company  of  citizens  from  Missouri,  mostly 
from  Bates  County,  came  into  this  District  the 
day  before  the  election,  some  camping  and  others 
putting  up  at  the  public-house  (147).  They  num 
bered  from  101)  to  200  (148),  and  came  in  wagons 
and  on  horseback,  carrying  their  provisions  and 
tents  with  them,  and  were  generally  armed  with 
pistols.  They  declared  their  purpose  to  vote,  and 
claimed  the  right  to  do  so.  They  went  to  the 
polls  generally  in  small  bodies,  with  tickets  in 
their  hands,  and  many,  if  not  all,  voted.  In 
some  cases  they  declared  that  they  had  voted, 
and  gave  their  reasons  for  so  doing.  Mr.  An 
derson,  a  Pro-Slavery  candidate  for  the  Legisla 
ture,  endeavored  to  dissuade  the  non-residents 
from  voting,  because  he  did  not  wish  the  election 
contested  (149).  This  person,  however,  insisted 
upon  voting,  and  upon  his  right  to  vote,  and  did 
so.  No  one  was  challenged  or  sworn,  and  all 
voted  who  desired  to.  Out  of  350  votes  cast,  not 
over  ICO  were  legal,  and  but  64  of  these  named 
in  the  census  taken  one  month  before  by  Mr. 
Barber,  the  candidate  for  Council,  voted.  Many 
of  the  Free-State  men  did  not  vote,  but  your  Com 
mittee  is  satisfied  that,  of  the  legal  votes  cast, 
the  Pro-Slavery  candidates  received  a  majority. 
Mr.  Anderson,  one  of  these  candidates,  was 
an  unmarried  man,  who  came  into  the  District 
from  Missouri  a  few  days  before  the  election,  and 
boarded  at  the  public-house  until  the  day  after 
the  election.  He  then  took  with  him  the  poll- 
lists,  and  did  not  return  to  Fort  Scott  until  the 
occasion  of  a  barbecue  the  week  before  the  elec 
tion  of  October  1,  1855.  He  voted  at  that  elec 
tion,  and  after  it  left,  and  has  not  since  been  in 
the  District.  S.  A.  Williams,  the  other  Pro- 
Slavery  candidate,  at  the  time  of  the  election  had 
a  claim  in  the  Territory,  but  his  legal  residence 
was  not  there  until  after  the  election. 

VIlTH  DISTRICT. 

From  two  to  three  hundred  men,  from  the 
State  of  Missouri,  came  in  wagons  or  on  horse 
back  to  the  election  ground  at  Switzer's  Creek, 
in  the  VHth  District,  and  encamped  near  the 
polls,  on  the  day  preceding  the  election.  They 
were  armed  with  pistols  and  other  weapons,  and 
declared  their  purpose  to  vote,  in  order  to  secure 
the  election  of  Pro-Slavery  members.  They  said 
they  were  disappointed  in  not  finding  more  Yan 
kees  there,  and  that  they  had  brought  more  men 
than  were  necessary  to  counterbalance  their  vote. 
A  number  of  them  wore  badges  of  blue  ribbon, 
with  a  motto,  and  the  company  were  under  the 
direction  of  leaders.  They  declared  their  inten 
tion  to  conduct  themselves  peacefully,  unless 
the  residents  of  the  Territory  atempted  to  stop 
them  from  voting.  Two  of  the  Judges  of  Elec 
tion  appointed  by  Governor  Reeder,  refused  to 
serve,  whereupon  two  others  were  appointed  in 
their  stead  by  the  crowd  of  Missourians  who 
surrounded  the  polls.  The  newly-appointed 
Judges  refused  to  take  the  oath  prescribed  by 
Governor  Reeder,  but  made  one  to  suit  them 
selves.  Andrew  Johnson  requested  each  voter  to 
swear  if  he  had  a  claim  in  the  Territory,  and 
if  he  had  voted  in  another  District.  The  Judges 
did  not  take  the  oath  prescribed,  but  were  sworn 
to  receive  all  legal  votes.  The  Missourians 
voted  without  being  sworn.  They  supported 
H.  J.  Stickler  for  Council,  and  M.  W.  McGee  for 
Representative.  They  left  the  evening  of  the 
election.  Some  of  them  started  on  horseback  for 

(147)  John  Hamilton.  (148)  John  Hamilton,  E.  B. 
Cook,  F  B.  Arnett.  (149)  J.  C.  Anderson. 


Lawrence,  as  they  said  they  could  be  there  be 
fore  night,  and  all  went  the  way  they  came. 
The  census-list  shows  53  legal  voters  in  the  Dis 
trict.  253  votes  were  cast ;  of  these  25  were  resi 
dents,  17  of  whom  were  in  the  District  when  the 
census  was  taken  (150).  Some  of  the  residents 
present  at  the  polls  did  not  vote,  declaring  it  use 
less.  Candidates  declined  to  run  on  the  Free-State 
ticket  because  they  were  unwilling  to  run  the 
risk  of  so  unequal  a  contest — it  being  known  that 
a  great  many  were  coming  up  from  Missouri  to 
vote  (151).  Nearly  all  the  settlers  were  Free- 
State  men.  and  23  of  the  25  legal  votes  given 
were  cast  for  the  only  Free-State  candidate  run 
ning.  Mobiller  McGee,  who  was  declared  elected 
Representative,  had  a  claim — a  saw-mill  and  a 
house  in  the  Territory — and  he  was  there  part  ot 
the  time.  But  his  legal  residence  is  now,  and 
was  then,  near  Westport,  in  Missouri,  where  he 
owns  and  conducts  a  valuable  farm,  and  where 
his  family  resides. 

VIIlTH  DISTRICT. 

This  was  attached  to  the  VHth  District  for  a 
member  of  the  Council  and  a  representative, 
and  its  vote  was  controlled  by  the  illegal  vote 
cast  there.  The  census  shows  39  votes  in  it — 37 
votes  were  cast,  of  whom  a  majority  voted  the 
Free -State  ticket. 

IXTH  DISTRICT. 

Fort  Riley  and  Pawnee  are  in  this  District. 
The  latter  place  was  selected  by  the  Governor 
as  the  temporary  capital,  and  he  designed  there 
to  expend  the  sums  appropriated  by  Congress  in 
the  coiistruction  of  suitable  houses  for  the  Le 
gislature.  A  good  deal  of  building  was  then 
being  done  at  the  fort  near  by.  For  these  rea 
sons  a  number  of  mechanics,  mostly  from  Penn 
sylvania  came  into  this  district  in  March,  1855, 
to  seek  employment.  Some  of  these  voted  at  the 
election.  The  construction  of  the  capital  was 
first  postponed,  then  abandoned,  and  finally  the 
site  of  the  town  was  declared  by  the  Secretary 
of  War  to  be  within  the  military  reservation  of 
Fort  Riley.  Some  of  the  inhabitants  returned 
to  the  States,  and  some  went  to  other  parts  of 
the  Territory.  Your  Committee  find  that  they 
came  as  settlers,  intending  to  remain  as  such, 
and  were  entitled  to  vote  (152). 

XTH  DISTRICT. 

In  this  district  ten  persons  belonging  to  the 
Wyandot  tribe  of  Indians  voted.  They  were  of 
that  class  who  under  the  law  were  entitled  to 
vote,  but  their  residence  was  in  Wyandot  Vil 
lage,  at  the  mouth  of  Kansas  River,  and  they 
had  no  right  to  vote  in  this  district.  They  voted 
the  Pro-Slavery  ticket  (153).  Eleven  men  re 
cently  from  Pennsylvania  voted  the  Free-State 
Ticket.  From  the  testimony,  they  had  not,  at 
the  time  of  the  election,  *o  established  their  resi 
dence  as  to  have  entitled  them  to  vote  (154).  In 
both  these  classes  of  cases  the  judges  examined 
the  voters  under  oath  and  allowed  them  to  vote, 
and  in  all  respects  the  election  seems  to  have 
been  conducted  fairly.  The  rejection  of  both 
would  not  have  changed  the  result.  This  and 
the  VIHth  Election-District  formed  one  repre 
sentative  district,  and  was  the  only  one  to  which 
the  invasion  from  Missouri  did  not  extend. 

XlTH  DISTRICT. 

The  IXth,  Xth,  and  Xlth  and  Xllth  Election- 
Districts,  being  all  sparsely  settled,  were  attached 

(150)  James  A.  Stewart,  Mr.  H.  Rose.  (151)  Wm. 
F.  Johnstone.  (152)  Andrew  McConneJl,  B.  W.  Wil 
son,  A.  H.  Reeder.  (153.)  M.  A.  Ganett,  Joseph  Stew 
art.  (154)  N.  J.  Osborn,  Isaac  Hascall. 


THE  KANSAS-NEBRASKA   STRUGGLE. 


129 


together  as  a  Council-District,  and  the  Xlth  aud 
XII th  as  a  Representative  District.  This  Elec 
tion-District  is  60  miles  north  from  Pawnee,  and 
150  miles  from  Kansas  City.  It  is  the  northwest 
settlement  in  the  Territory,  and  contained,  when 
the  census  was  taken,  but  36  inhabitants,  of 
whom  24  were  voters.  There  was  on  the  day  of 
election  no  white  settlement  about  Marysville, 
the  place  of  voting,  for  40  miles,  except  that 
Marshall  and  Bishop  kept  a  store  and  ferry  at 
the  crossing  of  the  Big  Blue  and  the  California 
road  (155).  Your  Committee  were  unable  to 
procure  witnesses  from  this  district.  Persons 
who  were  present  at  tho  election  were  duly  sum 
moned  by  an  officer,  and  among  them  was  F.  J. 
Marshall,  the  member  of  the  House  from  that 
district.  On  his  return  the  officer  was  arrested 
and  detained,  and  persons  bearing  the  names  of 
some  of  the  witnesses  summoned  were  stopped 
near  Lecompton,  and  did  not  appear  before  the 
Committee.  The  returns  show  that,  in  defiance 
of  the  Governor's  proclamation,  the  voting  was 
viva,  voce,  instead  of  by  ballot.  328  names  ap 
pear  upon  the  poll-books,  as  voting,  and  by  com 
paring  these  names  with  those  on  the  census- 
rolls,  we  tind  that  but  seven  of  the  latter  voted. 
The  person  voted  for  as  Representative,  F.  J. 
Marshall,  was  chief  owner  of  the  store  at  Marys 
ville,  aud  was  there  sometimes  (156),  but  his 
family  lived  in  Weston.  John  Donaldson,  the 
candidate  voted  for  for  the  Council,  then  lived 
in  Jackson  County,  Missouri  (157). 

On  the  day  after  the  election,  Mr.  Marshall, 
with  25  or  30  men  from  Weston,  Mo.,  was  on  the 
way  from  Marysville,  to  the  State.  Some  of  the 
party  told  a  witness  who  had  formerly  resided  at 
Weston,  that  they  were  up  at  Marysville  and 
carried  the  day  for  Missouri,  and  that  they  had 
voted  about  150  votes.  Mr.  Marshall  paid  the 
bill  at  that  point  for  the  party. 

There  does  not  appear  to  have  been  any  emi 
gration  into  that  district  in  March,  1855,  after 
the  census  was  taken,  and  judging  from  the  best 
test  in  the  power  of  your  Committee,  there  were 
but  seven  legal  votes  cast  in  the  district,  and 
321  illegal. 

XIlTH  DISTRICT. 

The  election  in  this  district  was  conducted 
fairly.  No  complaint  was  made  that  illegal  votes 
were  cast. 

XIIlTH  DISTRICT. 

Previous  to  the  day  of  election,  several  hun 
dreds  of  Missourians  from  Platte,  Clay,  Boone, 
Clinton,  and  Howard  counties,  came  into  the 
district  in  wagons  and  on  horseback,  and  camped 
there  (158).  They  were  armed  with  guns,  revolv 
ers,  and  bowie-knives,  and  had  badges  of  hemp 
in  their  button-holes  and  elsewhere  about  their 
persons  (159).  They  claimed  to  have  a  right  to 
vote,  from  the  fact  that  they  were  there  on  the 
ground,  and  had,  or  intended  to  make,  claims  in 
the  Territory,  although  their  families  were  in 
Missouri  (160). 

The  judges  appointed  by  the  governor  opened 
the  polls,  and  some  persons  offered  to  vote,  and 
when  their  votes  were  rejected  on  the  ground 
that  they  were  not  residents  of  the  district,  the 
orowd  threatened  to  tear  the  house  down  if  the 
judges  did  not  leave  (161).  The  judges  then 
withdrew,  taking  tho  poll-books  with  them  (162). 
The  crowd  then  proceeded  to  select  other  persons 
to  act  as  judges,  and  the  election  went  on  (163). 

(155)  Augustus  Baker.  (156)  Augustus  Baker.  (157) 
J.  E.  D'Aris.  (158)  J.  B.  Ross,  W.  H.  Godwin.  Dr. 
James  Noble,  T.  A.  Minard,  Chas.  Hardh.  (159)  J.  B. 
Ross.  W.  0.  Godwin.  (160)  J.  B.  Ross,  Dr.  J.  Noble. 
(161)  J  B.  Ross,  Chailes  Hardh,  A.  B.  St.arp.  (162) 
J.  B  Ross,  C.  Hardh.  (163)  J.  B.  Ross,  W.  H.  Godwin, 
Dr.  J.  Noble,  R.  Chandler,  T.  A.  Minard,  C.  Hardh, 
Q-.  M.  Dyer,  0.  B.  Tebb9. 


Those  persons  voting  who  were  sworn  were  ask 
ed  if  they  considered  themselves  residents  of  the 
district,  and  if  they  said  they  did,  they  were  al 
lowed  to  vote  (164).  But  few  of  the  residents 
were  present  and  voted  (165),  and  the  Free-State 
men,  as  a  general  thing,  did  not  vote  (166).  After 
the  Missourians  got  through  voting,  they  return 
ed  home  (167).  A  formal  return  was  made  by 
the  judges  of  election  setting  out  tho  facts,  but  it 
was  not  verified.  The  number  of  legal  voters  in 
this  district  was  96,  of  whom  a  majority  were 
Free-State  men.  Of  these  —  voted.  The  total 
number  of  votes  cast  was  296. 

XIVTH  DISTRICT. 

It  was  generally  rumored  in  this  district,  for 
some  days  before  the  election,  that  the  Missouri 
ans  were  coining  over  to  vote  (168).  Previous  to 
the  election,  men  from  Missouri  came  into  tho 
district,  and  electioneered  for  the  Pro-Slavery 
candidates  (169).  Gen.  David  R.  Atchison  and 
a  party  controlled  the  nominations  in  one  of  the 
primary  elections  (170). 

BURR  OAK  PRECINCT. 

Several  hundred  Missourians  from  Buchanan, 
Platte,  and  Andrew  Counties,  Mo.,  including  a 
great  many  of  the  prominent  citizens  of  St.  Joseph, 
came  into  this  precinct  the  day  before,  and  on  the 
day  of  election,  in  wagons  and  on  horse,  and  en 
camped  there  (171).  Arrangements  were  made  for 
them  to  cross  the  ferry  at  St.  Joseph  free  of  ex 
pense  to  themselves  (172).  They  were  armed 
with  bowie-knives  and  pistols,  guns  and  rifles 
(173).  On  the  morning  of  the  election,  the  Free- 
State  candidates  resigned  in  a  body,  on  account 
of  the  presence  of  the  large  number  of  armed 
Missourians,  at  which  the  crowd  cheered  and 
hurrahed  (174).  Gen.  B.  F.  Stringfellow  was 
present,  and  was  prominent  in  promoting  the 
election  of  the  Pro-Slavery  ticket,  as  was  also 
the  Hon.  Willard  P.  Hall,  and  others  of  the  most 
prominent  citizens  of  St.  Joseph,  Mo.  (175).  But 
one  of  the  judges  of  election,  appointed  by  the 
governor,  served  on  that  day,  and  the  crowd 
chose  two  others  to  supply  the  vacancies  (176). 

The  Missourians  said  they  came  there  to  vote 
for,  and  secure  the  election  of,  Major  Win.  P. 
Richardson  (177).  Major  Richardson,  elected 
to  the  Council,  had  had  a  farm  in  Missouri, 
where  his  wife  and  daughter  lived  with  his  son- 
in-law,  Willard  P.  Hall,  he  himself  generally 
going  home  to  Missouri  every  Saturday  night. 
The  farm  was  generally  known  as  the  Richard 
son  farm.  He  had  a  claim  in  the  Territory  upon 
which  was  a  saw-mill,  and  where  he  generally 
remained  during  the  week  (178). 

Some  of  the  Missourians  gave  as  their  reason 
for  voting  that  they  had  heard  that  eastern  emi 
grants  were  to  be  at  that  election  (179),  though 
no  eastern  emigrants  were  there  (180).  Others 

(104)  R.  Chandler.  (165)  J.  B.  Ross,  Dr.  J.  Noblo. 
(166)  J.  B.  Ross,  Dr.  J.  Noble,  R  Chandler,  C.  Hardh, 
0.  B.  Tebbs.  (167)  J.  B.  Ross,  Dr.  J.  Noble.  (168) 
B.  Harding,  John  H.  Whitehead,  A.  Larzelier.  (169) 
Benj.  Harding,  VVillard  P.  Hall,  Dr.  G.  A.  Cutler. 
(170)  Dr.  G.  A.  Cutler.  (171)  A.  A.  Janiieson,  W.  R. 
Richardson,  Benj.  Harding,  J.  H.  Whitehead,  J.  R. 
Carter,  A.  Larzeher.Willard  P.  Hall,  B.  H.  Brock,  C.  W. 
Stewart,  A.  M.  Mitchell  H  S.  Creel,  G.  W.  Gillespie. 
(172)  L.  Dillon,  G.  W.  Gillespie.  (173)  A.  A.  Jamie- 
son,  Willard  P  Hall,  C.  W  Stewart.  (174)  A.  A.  Ja- 
mieson,  W .  P.  Richardson.  Benj.  Harding,  J.  H.  White- 
head,  A.  Larzelier,  Willard  V.  Hall.  J.  P.  Blair.  U75) 
A.  A.  Janiieson,  W.  P.  Richardson,  J.  H.  Whitehead. 
Willard  P.  Hall  (176)  A.  A.  Jamieson,  Benjamin 
Harding,  J.  H.  Witehead,  A.  Larzelier,  0.  Hulan. 
(177)  A  A.  Jamiesou,  W.  P.  Hall.  (178)  A.  A.  Jamie- 
ison,  W.'  P.  Richardson,  W.  P.  Hall.  (179)  W.  P.  Rich- 
ard-on  J.  H.  Wiiitehead,  J.  R.  Carter,  W-  P.  Hall,  A. 
M.  Mitchell,  H  8.  Creel.  (180)  B.  Harding,  J.  H. 
Whitehead,  J.  R.  Carter,  W.  P.  Hall. 


ISO 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  SLAVERY  RESTRICTION. 


said  they  were  going  to  vote  for  the  purpose 
of  making  Kansas  a  Slave  State  (181). 

Some  claimed  that  they  had  a  right  to  vote, 
under  the  provisions  of  the  Kansas-Nebraska 
bill,  from  the  fact  that  they  were  present  on  the 
ground  on  the  day  of  election  (182). 

The  Free-State  men  generally  did  not  vote 
(183),  and  those  who  did  vote,  voted  generally 
for  John  H.  Whitehead,  Pro-Slavery,  for  Coun 
cil,  against  Major  Win.  P.  Richardson,  and  did 
not  vote  at  all  for  members  of  the  Lower  House 
(184). 

The  parties  were  pretty  nearly  equally  divided 
in  the  district,  some  being  of  opinion  that  the 
Free-State  party  had  a  small  majority  (185),  and 
others  that  the  Pro-Slavery  party  had  a  small 
majority  (186).  After  the  election  was  over, 
and  the  polls  were  closed,  the  Missourians  re 
turned  home.  During  the  day  they  had  provi 
sions  and  liquor  served  out,  free  of  expense  to 
all  (187). 

DONIPHAN  PRECINCT. 

The  evening  before  the  election  some  200  or 
more  Missourians  from  Platte,  Buchanan,  Sa 
line,  and  Clay  counties,  Missouri,  came  into  this 
precinct,  with  tents,  music,  wagons,  and  provi 
sions,  and  armed  with  guns,  rifles,  pistols,  and 
bowie-knives,  and  encamped  about  two  miles 
from  the  place  of  voting  (188).  They  said  they 
came  to  vote,  to  make  Kansas  a  Slave  State, 
and  intended  to  return  to  Missouri  after  they 
had  voted  (189). 

On  the  morning  of  the  election  the  Judges  ap 
pointed  by  the  Governor  would  not  serve,  and 
others  were  appointed  by  the  crowd  (190).  The 
Missourians  were  allowed  to  vote  without  being 
sworn  (191) — some  of  them  voting  as  many  as 
eight  or  nine  times  ;  changing  their  hats  and 
coats  and  giving  in  different  names  each  time 
(192).  After  they  had  voted  they  returned  to 
Missouri  (193).  The  Free-State  men  generally 
did  not  vote  (194),  though  constituting  a  majori 
ty  in  the  precinct  (195).  Upon  counting  the  bal 
lots  in  the  box  and  the  names  on  the  poll-lists,  it 
was  found  that  there  were  too  many  ballots  (196), 
and  one  of  the  judges  of  election  took  out  bal 
lots  enough  to  make  the  two  numbers  correspond 

WOLF  RIVER  PRECINCT. 

But  few  Missourians  were  present  in  this  pre 
cinct,  though  some  of  them  threatened  one  of  the 
judges,  because  he  refused  to  receive  their  votes, 
and  when  he  resigned  another  was  chosen  in 
his  place,  who  consented  to  receive  their  votes 
(198). 

Protests  were  drawn  up  against  the  elections 
in  the  various  precincts  in  the  XlVth  District, 
but  on  account  of  threats  that  greater  numbers 
of  Missourians  would  be  at  a  new  election  should 
it  be  called,  and  of  personal  violence  to  those 
who  should  take  part  in  the  protest,  it  was  not 
presented  to  the  Governor  (199).  Major  Rich- 

(181)  W.  P.  Hall,  H.  S.  Creel.  (182)  B.  H.  Brock,  C 
W.  Stewart,  H.  S.  Creel.  (183)  A.  A.  Jamieson,  W.  P. 
Richardson,  J.  H.  Whitehead,  A.  Larzelier,  C.  W. 
Stewart,  H.  S.  Creel.  (184)  W.  P.  Richardson,  C.  B. 
Whitehead.  (185)  A.  A.  Jamieson,  B.  Harding,  A. 
Larzelicr,  C.  W.  Stewart.  (186)  S.  P.  Richardson,  J. 
H.  Whitehead,  \V.  P.  Hall,  Thos.  W.  Watterson,  J  P. 
Blair.  (187)  W.  P.  Richardson,  G.  W.  Oillespie.  (188) 
Richard  Tuck.  Eli  Hamilton,  John  Lnndis,  Luther 
Dickerson,  J.  W.  Beattie,  David  Fizer.  (189)  R.  Tuck, 
L.  Dickersou,  J.  W.  Beattie.  (190)  R.  Tuck,  E.  Hamil 
ton,  J.  Landis.  (191)  R.  Tuck,  E.  Hamilton,  David 
Fizer.  (19'2)  R.  Tuck.  (193)  R.  Tuck,  E.  Hamil 
ton,  J.  Landis,  L.  Mckerson.  (194)  John  Landis. 
(195)  R.  J  uck,  John  Landis.  (196)  E  Hamilton,  J.  F. 
Foreman.  (197  E  Hamilton.  (198)  Dr.  «.  A.  Cutler. 
(199)  Dr.  G.  A.  Cutler,  John  Landis,  A.  A.  Jamitson. 


ardson,  the  Pro-Slavery  candidate  for  Council, 
threatened  Dr.  Cutler,  the  Free-State  candidate, 
that  if  he  contested  the  election  he  and  his  office 
should  be  put  in  the  Missouri  River  (200). 

The  number  of  votes  in  the  district  by  the  cen 
sus  was  334 — of  these  124  voted.  The  testimony 
shows  that  quite  a  number  of  persons  whose 
legal  residence  was  in  the  populous  county  of 
Buchanan,  Mo.,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river, 
had  claims  in  the  Territory.  Some  ranged  cattle, 
and  others  marked  out  their  claim  and  built  a 
cabin,  and  sold  this  incipient  title  where  they 
could.  They  were  not  residents  of  the  Territory 
in  any  just  or  legal  sense.  A  number  of  settlers 
moved  into  the  district  in  the  month  of  March. 
Your  Committee  are  satisfied,  after  a  careful 
analysis  of  the  records  and  testimony,  that  the 
number  of  legal  votes  cast  did  not  exceed  200 — 
out  of  727. 

XVTH  DISTRICT. 

The  election  in  this  district  was  held  in  the 
house  of  a  Mr.  Hayes.  On  the  day  of  election  a 
crowd  of  from  400  to  500  men  (201)  collected 
around  the  polls,  of  which  the  great  body  were 
citizens  of  Missouri.  One  of  the  Judges  of  Elec 
tion,  in  his  testimony  (202),  states  that  the  stran 
gers  commenced  crowding  around  the  polls,  and 
that  then  the  residents  left.  Threats  were  made 
before  and  during  the  election  day  that  there 
should  be  no  Free-State  candidates,  although 
there  were  nearly  or  quite  as  many  Free-State 
as  Pro-Slavery  men  resident  in  the  district. 
Most  of  the  crowd  were  drinking  and  carousing, 
cursing  the  Abolitionists  and  threatening  the 
only  Free-State  Judge  of  Election.  A  majority 
of  those  who  voted  wore  hemp  in  their  button 
holes  (203)  and  their  pass-word  was,  "  all  right  on 
the  hemp."  Many  of  the  Missourians  were 
known  and  are  named  by  the  witnesses.  Several 
speeches  were  made  by  them  at  the  polls,  and 
among  those  who  spoke  were  Major  Oliver,  one 
of  your  Committee,  Col.  Burns,  and  Lalau  Wil 
liams  of  Platte  County.  Major  Oliver  urged  up 
on  all  present  to  use  no  harsh  words,  and  ex 
pressed  the  hope  that  nothing  would  be  said  or 
done  to  harm  the  feelings  of  the  most  sensitive  on 
the  other  side.  He  gave  some  grounds,  based  on 
the  Missouri  Compromise,  in  regard  to  the  right 
of  voting,  and  was  understood  to  excuse  the  Mis 
sourians  for  voting.  Your  Committee  are  satis 
fied  that  he  did  not  vote.  Col.  Burns  recom 
mended  all  to  vote,  and  he  hoped  none  would  go 
home  without  voting-  Some  of  the  Pro-Slavery 
residents  were  much  dissatisfied  at  the  interfer 
ence  with  their  rights  by  the  Missourians,  and  for 
that  reason — because  reflection  convinced  them 
that  it  would  be  better  to  have  Kansas  a  Free- 
State— they  "fell  over  the  fence"  (204).  The 
judges  requested  the  voters  to  take  an  oath  that 
they  were  actual  residents.  They  objected  at 
first,  some  saying  they  had  a  claim,  or  "  I  am 
here."  But  the  Free-State  Judge  insisted  upon 
the  oath,  and  his  associates,  who  at  first  were 
disposed  to  waive  it,  coincided  with  him,  and  the 
voters  all  took  it  after  some  grumbling.  One 
said  he  cut  him  some  poles  and  laid  them  in  the 
shape  of  a  square,  and  that  made  him  a  claim ; 
and  another  said  that  he  had  cut  him  a  few  sticks 
of  wood,  and  that  made  him  a  claim.  The  Free- 
State  men  did  not  vote,  although  they  believed 
their  numbers  to  be  equal  to  the  Pro-Slavery  set 
tlers,  and  some  claimed  that  they  had  the  majori 
ty.  They  were  deterred  by  threats  throughout 
by  the  Missourians,  before  and  on  the  day  of 
election,  from  putting  up  candidates,  and  no  can 
didates  were  run,  for  this  reason — that  there  was 

(200)  Dr.  G.  A.  Cutler.  (201)  J.  B.  Crane.  (202)  E. 
R.  y.iuimerman.  0203)  E.  R.  Zimmerman,  Joseph 
Potter.  (204)  E.  R.  Zimmerman. 


THE  KANSAS-NEBRASKA  STRUGGLE. 


131 


a  credited  rumor  previously  that  the  Missourians 
would  control  the  election.  The  Free-State 
Judge  was  threatened  with  expulsion  from  the 
polls,  and  a  young  man  thrust  a  pistol  into  the 
window  through  which  the  votes  were  received. 
The  whole  number  of  votes  cast  was  417  ;  of  the 
names  on  the  poll-book  but  62  are  in  the  census- 
rolls,  and  the  testimony  shows  that  a  small  por 
tion,  estimated  by  one  witness  at  one-quarter  of 
the  legal  voters,  voted.  Your  Committee  esti 
mate  the  number  of  legal  voters  at  80.  One  of 
the  judges  referred  to,  certified  to  the  Governor 
that  the  election  was  fairly  conducted.  It  was 
not  contested  because  no  one  would  take  the  re 
sponsibility  of  doing  it,  as  it  was  not  considered 
safe,  and  that  if  another  election  was  had,  the 
residents  would  fare  no  better. 

XVIxH  DISTRICT. 

For  some  time  previous  to  the  election,  meet 
ings  were  held  and  arrangements  made  in  Mis 
souri  to  get  up  companies  to  come  over  to  the 
Territory  and  vote  (205),  and  the  day  before 
and  on  the  day  of  election,  large  bodies  of  Mis- 
sourians  from  Platte,  Clay,  Ray,  Charlton,  Car 
rol,  Clinton,  and  Saline  Counties,  Mo.,  came 
into  this  district  and  camped  there  (206).  They 
were  armed  with  pistols  and  bowie-knives,  and 
some  with  guns  and  rifles  (207),  and  had  badges 
of  hemp  in  their  button-holes  and  elsewhere 
about  their  persons  (208). 

On  the  morning  of  the  election  there  were 
from  1,000  to  1,400  persons  present  on  the  ground 
(209).  Previous  to  the  election,  Missourians 
endeavored  to  persuade  the  two  Free-State 
judges  to  resign  by  making  threats  of  personal 
violence  to  them  (210),  one  of. whom  resigned 
on  the  morning  of  election,  and  the  crowd  chose 
another  to  fill  his  place  (211).  But  one  of  the 
judges,  the  Free-State  judge,  would  take  the 
oath  prescribed  by  the  Governor,  the  other  two 
deciding  that  they  had  no  right  to  swear  any 
one  who  offered  to  vote,  but  that  all  on  the 
ground  were  entitled  to  vote  (212).  The  only 
votes  refused  were  some  Delaware  Indians, 
some  30  Wyandot  Indians  being  allowed  to 
vote  (213). 

One  of  the  Free-State  candidates  withdrew  in 
consequence  of  the  presence  of  the  Missourians, 
amid  cheering  and  acclamations  by  the  Mis 
sourians  (214).  During  the  day,  the  steamboat 
New  Lucy  came  down  from  Western  Missouri, 
with  a  large  number  of  Missourians  on  board, 
who  voted  and  then  returned  on  the  boat  (215). 

The  Missourians  gave  as  a  reason  for  their 
coming  over  to  vote,  that  the  North  had  tried  to 
force  emigration  into  the  Territory,  and  they 
wanted  to  counteract  that  movement  (216). 
Some  of  the  candidates  and  many  of  the  Mis 
sourians  took  the  ground  that,  under  the  Kan 
sas-Nebraska  act,  all  who  were  on  the  ground 
on  the  day  of  election  were  entitled  to  vote 
(217),  and  others,  that  laying  out  a  town,  stak 
ing  a  lot,  or  driving  down  stakes,  even  on  an 
other  man's  claim,  gave  them  a  right  to  vote. 

(205)  H.  Miles  Moore,  A.  McAuley,  L.  Kerr.  (206) 
David  Brown,  T  A.  Hart.  G.  F.  Wairen,  R.  R.  Rees,  A. 
Russell,  P.  R,  Orr.  L.  J.  Easlin,  A.  Fisher.  M.  France, 
H.  M.  Moore  (207)  D.  Brown,  E.  A.  Hart.  G.  F.  War 
ren,  A.  Fisher,  H.  M.  Moore,  W.  G.  Matthias  (208) 
F.  A.  Hart,  L.  J.  Eastin,  M.  France,  W.  H.  Adams,  H. 
M.  Moore.  (209)  F.  A.  Hart,  T.  A.  Minard.  G.  F. 
Warron,  R.  R.  Rees.  A.  J.  Pattie,  W.  G.  Matthias. 
(210)  D.  Brown,  M.  France.  (211)  D.  Brown.  F.  A. 
Hart,  M.  Frtnce.  (212)  M.  France.  (213)  M.  France. 
(214)  F.  A.  Hart,  L.  J.  Karin,  W.  H.  Adams.  (215)  D. 
Brown,  F.  A.  Hart,  T.  A.  Mioard,  Or  F  Warren,  K.  R. 
Rees,  S.  J.  Bastin.  A.  T.  Kyle,  D.  J.  Johnson,  M. 
France  A.  T.  Pattie,  H.  M.  Moore.  (216)  H.  R.  Rees, 
L.  J.  Eastin,  W  H.  Adams,  H.  M.  Moore.  (217)  D. 
Brown,  T.  A.  Minard,  G.  F.  Warren,  R.  R.  Rees,  H. 
M.  Moore. 


And  one  of  the  members  (218)  of  the  Council,  R, 
R.  Rees,  declared  in  his  testimony  that  he  who 
should  put  a  different  construction  upon  the  law 
must  be  either  a  knave  or  a  fool. 

The  Free-State  men  generally  did  not  vote  at 
that  election  (219) ;  and  no  newly-arrived  East- 
ern emigrants  were  there  (220).  The  Free-State 
Judge  of  Election  refused  to  sign  the  returns  un 
til  the  words  "by  lawful  resident  voters"  were 
stricken  out,  which  was  done,  and  the  returns 
made  in  that  way  (221).  The  election  was  con 
tested,  and  a  new  election  ordered  by  Gov. 
Reeder  for  the  22d  of  May. 

The  testimony  is  divided  as  to  the  relative 
strength  of  parties  _  in  this  district.  The  whole 
number  of  voters  in  the  district,  according  to 
the  census  returns,  was  385  ;  and,  according  to 
a  very  carefully-prepared  list  of  voters,  pre- 

gired  for  the  Pro-Slavery  candidates  and  other 
ro-Slavery  men,  a  few  days  previous  to  the 
election,  there  were  305  voters  in  the  district, 
including  those  who  had  claims  but  did  not  live 
on  them  (222).  The  whole  number  of  votes  cast 
was  964.  Of  these  named  in  the  census  106 
voted.  Your  Committee,  upon  careful  examina 
tion,  are  satisfied  that  there  were  not  over  150 
legal  votes  cast,  leaving  814  illegal  votes. 

XVIlTH  DISTRICT. 

The  election  in  this  district  seems  to  have 
been  fairly  conducted,  and  not  contested  at  all. 
In  this  district  the  Pro-Slavery  party  had  the 
majority. 

XVIIlTH  DISTRICT. 

Previous  to  the  election,  Gen.  David  R.  Atchi- 
son  of  Platte  City,  Mo.,  got  up  a  company  of 
Missourians,  and  passing  through  Weston,  Mo., 
(223)  went  over  into  the  Territory.  He  re* 

mained  all  night  atthe  house  of ,  and  then 

exhibited  his  arms,  of  which  he  had  un  abund 
ance.  He  proceeded  to  the  Nemohaer  (XVIIlth) 
District  (224).  On  his  way,  he  and  his  party  at 
tended  a  Nominating  Convention  in  the  XlVth 
District,  and  proposed  and  caused  to  be  nomin 
ated  a  set  of  candidates  in  opposition  to  the 
wishes  of  the  Pro-Slavery  residents  of  the  dis 
trict  (225).  At  that  Convention  he  said  that 
there  were  1,100  men  coming  over  from  Platte 
County,  and  if  that  wasn't  enough  they  could 
send  5,000  more — that  they  came  to  vote,  and 
would  vote  or  kill  every  G — d  d — d  Abolitionist 
in  the  Territory  (226). 

On  the  day  of  election,  the  Btissottzianfl  under 
Atehison,  who  were  encamped  there,  came  up 
to  the  polls  in  the  XVIIlth  District,  taking  the 
oath  that  they  were  residents  of  the  district. 
The  Missourians  were  all  armed  with  pistols  or 
bowie-knives,  and  said  there  were  60  in  their 
company  (227).  But  17  votes  given  on  that  day 
were  given  by  residents  of  the  district  (228). 
The  whole  number  of  votes  wa.s  62. 

R.  L.  Kirk,  one  of  the  candidates,  came  into 
the  district  from  Missouri  about  a  week  before 
the  election,  and  boarded  there  (22D).  Jle  left 
after  the  election,  and  was  not  at  the  time  a  legal 
resident  of  the  district  in  which  he  was  elected. 
No  protest  was  sent  to  the  Governor  on  account 
of  threats  made  against  any  who  should  dare  to 
contest  the  election  (230).  The  following  tables 
embody  the  result  of  the  examination  of  your 
Committee  in  regard  to  this  election.  In  some 
of  the  districts  it  was  impossible  to  ascertain 

(218)  D.  Brown.  T.  A.  Hart.  (219)  D.  Brown,  E.  A. 
Minard,  G.  F.  Warren,  F.  A.  Hart,  M.  France.  H.  M. 
Moore.  (220)  L.  J.  Eastin,  M.  France,  W.  H.  Adams. 
(221)  L.  J-  Eastin.  M.  France.  W.  H.  Adams.  (222)  L. 
J.  Eastin,  A.  McAuley.  (223)  H.  Nilea  Moore.  (224) 
Dr  G.  A.  Cutler,  Amer  Gn.om.  (286)  Dr.  G.  A. 
Cutler  (226)  Dr.  G.  A.  Cutler.  (227)  1).  H.  Baker, 
John  Belew.  (228)  D.  H.  Baker,  John  Eelew.  (229) 
John  Belew.  (230)  Dr.  G.  A.  Cutler. 


132 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  SLAVERY  RESTRICTION. 


the  precise  number  of  the  legal  votes  cast,  and 
especially  in  the  XlVth,  XVth  and  XVIth  Dis 
tricts.  In  such  cases  the  number  of  legal  and 


illegal  votes  cast  is  stated,  after  a  careful  re-ex 
amination  of  all  the  testimony  and  records  con 
cerning  the  election : 


I 

i°? 

£2 


liti 

i    °?    -S°?    -2 
£     g     §2     § 

PH      PH      OOi      P 


No.  Councilmen  elected 
by  Illegal  Votes  ....... 


No.  of  Illegal  Votes  in 
Council  District 


No.  of  Legal  Votes  in 
Council  District ... 


8      g| 


No.  of  Illegal  Votes  in 
Election  District .. 


<M  O  >tt  <O  IM        O        •** 


No.  of  Legal  Votes  in 
Election  District 


i«        O        ir?<NiOt-.       CO 
i-t       0       C^COWCO       rH 


Total    Votes    cast     in 
Council  District 


Total     Votes     cast    in 
Election  District  ____  .. 


l  <M        N        •«!• 

381 


Scattering. 


0  CO 


Total  Votes  in  Council 
District  for  them  ...... 


No.  of  Votes  for  them 
in  Election  District—.. 


M 

02      O 


apflpna 


I  fit! 

p      P  —  5  -5 


Total  Voters  in  Council 
Districts  for  them  _____ 


No.  of  Voters  for  them 
in  Election  District  ____ 


T*—  t^r-i^Hi-i-aiaic 

COCO<NCOCOr-(r-l 


°?  a 

Z  5 

&    0 


: 

«  p1 


:~«>4piH4 


No.  of  Councilmen  ..... 


No.  of  Voters  by  Census 
in  Council  Districts  ---- 


Voters  in  Election  Diets 


O        (M-<CO(3>(N 
0        r-OOCO- 


No.  of  Election  District  \  *«     **     £; 


No.  of  Council  District.     r"1 


t-  OOO5  O 


THE  KANSAS-NEBRASKA  STRUGGLE. 
ABSTRACT  OF  ELECTION  OP  MARCH  30,  1855,  BY  REPRESENTATIVE  DISTRICTS. 


133 


No.  Represent'es 
Elected  by  Ille 
gal  Votes 


No.  Illegal  Votes 
in  Represent'tive 
District 


@         8     Si 


No.  Legal  Votes 
in  Represent'tive 
District 


No.  Illegal  Votes 
in  Election  Dist.. 


8    53 


No.   Legal  Votes 
in  Election  Dist.. 


Total  Votes  cast 
in  Representative 
District  ... 


SI     S 


5    I 


Total  Votes  cast 
in  Election  Dist.. 


SlO         iflnO  O3  CO  00  — i  r-l  (N  00  O         <N         CO         *-  -^ 

O         lOt—  CDC^C^COrH^P  t-  -^         O         O        rH  O 

^^r-100  COIN  M  «        •*  O 


Scattering. 


Total  Votes  for 
them  in  Repre 
sontative  District 


No.  Represent'vs     1~l 


No. Voters  by  cen 
sus  in  Represent 
ative  District 


s  i 


No.Voters  by  cen 
sus  iu  Election 
District 


O      K 

5  i 


II 

oil 


§    grf 

.2      S 
n     H^ 


i    i 


§s  9 

O  EM      W 


•a  -s  ° 

'a  S  S 

o  v  s 

ft  55  M 


No.  of  Elec.  Dist.    "£' 


00          -*          O          CO 

r-l       rH       r-l       1-4 


No.  of  Bep.  Dist. 


134 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  SLAVERY  RESTRICTION. 


ABSTRACT  OF  CENSUS,  AND  RETURNS  OF  ELECTION  OF  MARCH  30,  1855,  BY 
ELECTION  DISTRICTS. 


53 

3 

*l 

P 

g 

£ 

H 
o 

Cen 

BUB. 

C' 

cl. 

H' 

se. 

3 
<* 

t* 

I 

i 

E 

E 

0 

E 

o 

3 
P 

? 

53 
o 

tz! 
o 

8" 

* 

o 

jr  of  District  

PLACE  OF  VOTING. 

4 

-3 

o 

1 

D 
0*5 

1 

j 

f  Legal  Votes-  - 

f  Illegal  Votes  - 

persons  resd'ts 

of  Voters  

2, 

o 

o' 

of  Members  — 

of  District  

of  Members  .  .  . 

1 

781 

253 

1034 

232 

802 

962 

369 

1 

2 

? 

3 

2 

318 

12 

H 

341 

3° 

316 

519 

199 

a 

1 

T 

2 

3 

Stinson's,  or  Tecumseh  ... 

366 

78 

4 

2 

2 

372 
80 

32 
15 

338 
65 

252 
177 

101 
47 

3 
1 

1 

4 
1 

1 
1 

10 

5 

1  Bi<*  Sugar  Creek 

74 

17 

7 

98 

32 

59 

1407 

442 

4 

0 

7 

4 

Q 

Fort  Scott   ... 

315 

35 

350 

100 

250 

810 

253 

5 

1 

6 

2 

7 

211 

23 

234 

25 

209 

118 

58 

T 

5 

1 

17 

17 

3 

37 

37 

83 

39 

3 

5 

9 

23 

52 

75 

75 

86 

36 

6 

1 

8 

1 

c  J3jg  Blue 

27 

42 

69 

48 

21 

151 

63 

10 

8 

K) 

)  Rnrk  frppk 

2 

21 

23 

00 

g 

g 

11 

328 

398 

7 

821 

36 

24 

g 

g 

\ 

r  gj  M'\ry's 

4 

7 

11 

11 

10 

9 

12 

144 

78 

1 

13 

Hickory  Point 

233 

g 

239 

12 

230 

284 

96 

10 

10 

1 

313 

30 

3 

346 

7 

11 

14 

)  Wolf  Creek  ..  ..  ..... 

57 

15 

5 

78 

200 

530 

1167 

334 

7 

1 

11 

2 

256 

2 

48 

306 

g 

12 

2 

15 

Hayes 

41? 

5 

417 

80 

337 

873 

208 

g 

1 

13 

2 

16 

899 

60 

5 

964 

150 

814 

1183 

385 

10 

2 

14 

3 

17 

43 

16 

59 

59 

150 

50 

1 

18 

48 

14 

62 

17 

45 

99 

28 

7 

1 

Total  

5427 

791 

92 

6320 

1310 

4968 

3501 

2892 

- 

13 

26 

Your  Committee  report  the  following  facts 
not  shown  by  the  tables : 

Of  the  twenty-nine  hundred  and  five  voters 
named  in  the  census-rolls,  eight  hundred  and 
thirty-one  are  found  on  the  poll-books.  Some  of 
the  settlers  were  prevented  from  attending  the 
election  by  the  distance  of  their  homes  from  the 
polls ;  but  the  great  majority  were  deterred  by  the 
open  avowal  that  large  bodies  of  armed  Missou- 
rians  would  be  at  the  polls  to  vote,  and  by  the 
fact  that  they  did  so  appear  and  control  the  elec 
tion.  The  same  causes  deterred  the  Free-State 
settlers  from  running  candidates  in  several  dis 
tricts,  and  in  others  induced  the  candidates  to 
withdraw. 

The  poll-books  of  the  lid  and  VHIth  districts 
were  lost ;  but  the  proof  is  quite  clear  that,  in  the 
lid  district,  there  were  thirty,  and  in  the  VHIth 
district  thirty-eight  legal  votes,  making  a  total 
of  eight  hundred  and  ninety-eight  legal  voters  of 
the  Territory,  whose  names  are  on  the  census- 
returns,  and  yet  the  proof,  in  the  state  in  which 
we  are  obliged  to  present  it,  after  excluding  ille 
gal  votes,  leaves  the  total  vote  of  1,310,  showing 
a  discrepancy  of  412.  The  discrepancy  is  ac 
counted  for  in  two  ways  :  First,  the  coming  in 
of  settlers  before  the  March  election,  and  after 
the  census  was  taken,  or  settlers  who  were  omit 
ted  in  the  census ;  or  secondly,  the  disturbed 
state  of  the  Territory  while  we  were  investigat 
ing  the  elections  in  some  of  the  districts,  thereby 
preventing  us  from  getting  testimony  in  relation 
to  the  names  of  legal  voters  at  the  time  of  elec 
tion. 

If  the  election  had  been  confined  to  the  actual 
settlers  undeterred  by  the  presence  of  non-resi 
dents,  or  the  knowledge  that  they  would  be 
present  in  numbers  sufficient  to  out- vote  them, 
the  testimony  indicates  that  the  council  would 
have  been  composed  of  seven  in  favor  of  making 
Kansas  a  Free  State,  elected  from  the  1st,  lid, 


Illd,  IVth,  and  Vlth,  council-districts.  The  result 
in  the  Vlllth,  and  Xth,  electing  three  members, 
would  have  been  doubtful,  and  the  Vth,  Vllth, 
and  IXth  would  have  elected  three  Pro-Slavery 
members. 

Under  like  circumstances  the  House  of  Rep 
resentatives  would  have  been  composed  of  four 
teen  members  in  favor  of  making  Kansas  a  Free 
State,  elected  from  the  lid,  Illd,  IVth,  Vth, 
Vllth,  Vlllth,  IXth,  and  Xth  representative- 
districts. 

The  result  in  the  Xllth  and  XlVth  representa 
tive-districts,  electing  five  members,  would  have 
been  doubtful,  and  the  1st,  Vlth,  Xlth,  and 
XVth  districts  would  have  elected  seven  Pro- 
Slavery  members. 

By  the  election,  as  conducted,  the  Pro- 
Slavery  candidates  in  every  district  but  the 
Vlllth  representative-district,  received  amajority 
of  the  votes  ;  and  several  of  them,  in  both  the 
Council  and  the  House,  did  not  "  reside  in" 
and  were  not  "inhabitants  of"  the  district  for 
which  they  were  elected^  as  required  by  the  or 
ganic  law.  By  that  act  it  was  declared  to  be 
the  true  intent  and  meaning  of  this  act  to  leave 
the  people  thereof  perfectly  free  to  form  and 
regulate  their  domestic  institutions  in  their 
own  way,  subject  to  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States. 

So  careful  was  Congress  of  the  right  of  popular 
sovereignty,  that  to  secure  it  to  the  people, 
without  a  single  petition  from  any  portion  of  the 
country,  they  removed  the  restriction  against 
Slavery  imposed  by  the  Missouri  Compromise. 
And  yet  this  right,  so  carefully  secured,  was 
thus  by  force  and  fraud  overthrown  by  a  portion 
of  the  people  of  an  adjoining  State. 

The  striking  difference  between  this  Repub 
lic  and  other  Republics  on  this  Continent,  is  not 
in  the  provisions  of  Constitutions  and  laws, 
but  that  here  changes  in  the  administration  of 


THE  KANSAS-NEBRASKA  STRUGGLE. 


135 


those  laws  have  been  made  peacefully  and  quietly 
through  the  ballot-box.  This  invasion  is  the  first 
and  only  one  in  the  history  of  our  Government, 
by  which  an  organized  force  from  one  State  has 
elected  a  Legislature  for  another  State  or  Terri 
tory,  and  as  such  it  should  have  been  resisted 
by  the  whole  executive  power  of  the  National 
Government. 

Your  Committee  are  of  the  opinion  that  the 
Constitution  and  laws  of  the  United  States  have 
invested  the  President  and  Governor  of  the  Ter 
ritory  with  ample  power  for  this  purpose.  They 
could  only  act  after  receiving  authentic  informa 
tion  of  the  facts,  but  when  received,  whether  be 
fore  or  after  the  certificates  of  election  were 
granted,  this  power  should  have  been  exercised 
to  its  fullest  extent.  It  is  not  to  be  tolerated 
that  a  legislative  body  thus  selected  should  as 
sume  or  exercise  any  legislative  functions  ;  and 
their  enactments  should  be  regarded  as  null  and 
void  ;  nor  should  the  question  of  its  legal  exist 
ence  as  a  legislative  body  be  determined  by 
itself,  as  that  would  be  allowing  the  criminal  to 
judge  of  his  own  crime.  In  section  twenty-two 
of  the  organic  act  it  is  provided,  that  "  the  per 
sons  having  the  highest  number  of  legal  votes 
in  each  of  said  Council-districts  for  members 
of  the  Council,  shall  be  declared  by  the  Gov 
ernor  to  be  duly  elected  to  the  Council,  and 
the  persons  having  the  highest  number  of  le 
gal  votes  for  the  House  of  Representatives, 
shall  be  declared  by  the  Governor  duly  elected 
members  of  said  House.'1  The  proclamation 
of  the  Governor  required  a  verified  notice  of  a 
contest  when  one  was  made,  to  be  filed  with 
him  within  four  days  after  the  election.  Within 
that  time  he  did  not  obtain  information  as  to 
force  or  fraud  in  any  except  the  following  dis 
tricts,  and  in  these  there  were  material  defects 
in  the  returns  of  election.  Without  deciding 
upon  his  power  to  set  aside  elections  for  force 
and  fraud,  they  were  set  aside  for  the  following 
reasons : 

In  the  1st  district,  because  the  words  "  by 
lawful  resident  voters,"  were  stricken  from  the 
return. 

In  the  lid  district,  because  the  oath  was  ad 
ministered  by  G.  W.  Taylor,  who  was  not  au 
thorized  to  administer  an  oath. 

In  the  Hid  district,  because  material  erasures 
from  the  printed  form  of  the  oath  were  pur 
posely  made. 

In  the  IVth  district  for  the  same  reason. 

In  the  Vllth  district,  because  the  Judges 
were  not  sworn  at  all. 

In  the  Xlth  district,  because  the  return?  show 
the  election  to  have  been  held  viva  voce  instead 
of  by  ballot. 

In  the  XVIth  district,  because  the  words  "  by 
lawful  residence''  were  stricken  from  the  re 
turns. 

ABSTRACT  OF  THE  RETURNS  OF  ELECTION 
OF  MAY  22,  1855. 


¥ 

J 

1 

03 

i 

H 

a 

o 

1 

<? 

OJ 

r 

£. 

g 

» 
«* 

I 

CD 

PLACES  OF  TOTING. 

| 

§ 

<w 

f 

^ 

o 

I 

Votes.  „ 

: 
: 

1 





•>S8 

18 

3C6 

2 

T)         1 

T>7 

127 

3 

14S 

1 

149 

7 

"  110  "                              -     - 

6fi 

13 

79 

g 



33 

33 

16 

560 

140 

15 

715 

Total  

560 

802 

47 

1409 

Although  the  fraud  and  force  in  other  districts 
were  equally  great  us  in  these,  yet  as  the  Gov 
ernor  had  no  information  in  regard  to  them,  he 
issued  certificates  according  to  the  returns. 

Your  Committee  here  felt  it  to  be  their  duty 
not  only  to  inquire  into  and  collect  evidence  in 
regard  to  force  and  fraud  attempted  and  prac 
ticed  at  the  elections  in  the  Territory,  but  also 
nto  the  facts  and  pretexts  by  which  this  force 
and  fraud  has  been  excused  and  justified;  and 
for  this  purpose,  your  Committee  have  allowed 
the  declarations  of  non-resident  voters  to  be 
nven  as  evidence  in  their  own  behalf,  also  the 
declarations  of  all  who  came  up  the  Missouri 
River  as  emigrants  in  March.  1855,  whether  they 
voted  or  not,  and  whether  they  came  into  the 
Territory  at  all  or  not ;  and  also  the  rumors 
which  were  circulated  among  the  people  of  Mis 
souri  previous  to  the  election.  The  great  body 
of  the  testimony  taken  at  the  instance  of  the  sit 
ting  Delegate  is  of  this  character. 

When  the  declarations  of  parties  passing  up  the 
river  were  offered  in  evidence,  your  Committee 
received  them  upon  the  distinct  statement  that 
they  would  be  excluded  unless  the  persons  mak 
ing  the  declarations  were  by  other  proof  shown 
to  have  been  connected  with  the  elections.  This 
proof  was  not  made,  and  therefore  much  of  this 
class  of  testimony  is  incompetent  by  the  rules  of 
law,  but  is  allowed  to  remain  as  tending  to  show 
the  cause  of  the  action  of  the  citizens  of  Missouri. 

The  alleged  causes  of  the  invasion  of  March, 
1855,  are  included  in  the  following  charges  : 

I.  That  the  New-England  Aid  Society  of  Bos 
ton   was  then  importing  into  the  Territory  large 
numbers  of  men  merely  for  the  purpose  of  control 
ling  the  elections.    That  they  came  without  wo 
men,  children,  or  baggage,  went  into  the  Terri 
tory,  voted,  and  returned  again. 

II.  That  men  were  hired  in  the  Eastern  or 
Northern  States,  or  induced  to  go  into  the  Terri 
tory  solely  to  vote,  and  not  to  settle,  and  "by  so 
doing  to  make  it  a  Free  State. 

III.  That  the  Governor  of  the  Territory  pur 
posely  postponed  the  day  of  election  to  allow 
this  emigration  to  arrive,  and  notified  the  Emi 
grant  Aid  Society,  and  persons  in  the  Eastern 
States,  of  the  day  of  election,  before  he  gave 
notice  to  the  people  of  Missouri  and  the  Ter 
ritory. 

That  these  charges  were  industriously  circu 
lated  ;  that  grossly  exaggerated  statements  were 
made  in  regard  to  them;  that  the  newspaper 
press  and  leading  men  in  public  meetings  in 
western  Missouri,  aided  in  one  case  by  a  Chap 
lain  of  the  United  States  Army,  gave  currency 
and  credit  to  them,  and  thus  excited  the  people, 
and  induced  many  well-meaning  citizens  of  Mis 
souri  to  march  into  the  Territory  to  meet  and  repel 
the  alleged  Eastern  paupers  and  Abolitionists,  is 
fully  proven  by  many  witnesses. 

But  these  charges  are  not  sustained  by  the 
proof. 

In  April,  1854,  the  General  Assembly  of  Mas 
sachusetts  passed  an  act  entitled  "  An  act  to  in 
corporate  the  Massachusetts  Emigrant  Aid  So 
ciety."  The  object  of  the  Society  as  declared  in 
the  first  section  of  this  act,  was  "  for  the  purpose 
of  assisting  emigrants  to  settle  in  the  West.'' 
The  moneyed  capital  of  the  corporation  was  not 
to  exceed  five  millions  of  dollars  ;  but  no  more 
than  four  per  cent,  could  be  assessed  during  the 
year  1854,  and  no  more  than  ten  per  cent,  in  any 
one  year  thereafter.  No  organization  was  per 
fected,  or  proceedings  had,  under  this  law. 

On  the  ^!4th  day  of  July,  1854,  certain  persona 
in  Boston,  Massachusetts,  concluded  articles  of 
agreement  and  association  for  an  Emigrant  Aid 
Society.  The  purpose  of  this  association  was  de 
clared  to  be  "  assisting  emigrants  to  settle  in  the 
West."  Under  these  articles  of  association,  each 


136 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  SLAVERY  RESTRICTION. 


stockholder  was  individually  liable.  To  avoid 
this  difficulty,  an  application  was  made  to  the 
General  Assembly  of  Massachusetts  for  an  act  of 
incorporation,  which  was  granted.  On  the  21st 
day  of  February,  1855,  an  act  was  passed  to  in 
corporate  the  New- England  Emigrant  Aid  Com 
pany.  The  purposes  of  this  act  were  declared 
to  be  "  directing  emigration  westward,  and  aid 
ing  and  providing  accommodation  for  the  emi 
grants  after  arriving  at  their  place  of  destina 
tion."  The  capital  stock  of  the  corporation  was 
not  to  exceed  one  million  of  dollars.  Under  this 
charter  a  company  was  organized. 

Your  Committee  have  examined  some 
of  its  officers  and  a  portion  of  its  circulars 
and  records  to  ascertain  what  has  been 
done  by  it.  The  public  attention,  at  that  time, 
was  directed  to  the  Territory  of  Kansas,  and 
emigration  naturally  tended  in  that  direction. 
To  ascertain  its  character  and  resources,  this 
Company  sent  its  agent  into  it,  and  the  informa 
tion  thus  obtained  was  published.  The  Com 
pany  made  arrangements  with  various  lines  of 
transportation  to  reduce  the  expense  of  emigra 
tion  into  the  Territory,  and  procured  tickets  at 
the  reduced  rates.  Applications  were  made  to 
the  Company  by  persons  desiring  to  emigrate, 
and  when  they  were  numerous  enough  to  form  a 
party  of  convenient  size,  tickets  were  sold  to 
them  at  the  reduced  rates.  An  agent  acquainted 
with  the  route  was  selected  to  accompany  them. 
Their  baggage  was  checked,  and  all  trouble  and 
danger  of  loss  to  the  emigrant  in  this  way  avoid 
ed. 

Under  these  arrangements,  companies  went 
into  the  Territory  in  the  Fall  of  1854,  under  the 
articles  of  association  referred  to.  The  compa 
ny  did  not  pay  any  portion  of  the  fare,  or  furnish 
any  personal  or  real  property  to  the  emigrant. 
The  company  during  1855  sent  into  the  Territory 
from  eight  to  ten  saw-mills,  purchased  one  hotel 
in  Kansas  City,  which  they  subsequently  sold, 
built  one  hotel  at  Lawrence,  and  owned  one  other 
building  in  that  place.  In  some  cases,  to  induce 
them  to  make  improvements,  town  lots  were 
given  to  them  by  town  associations  in  this  Ter 
ritory.  They  held  no  property  of  any  other  kind 
or  description.  They  imposed  no  condition  upon 
their  emigrants  and  did  not  inquire  into  their  po 
litical,  religious,  or  social  opinions.  The  total 
amount  expended  by  them,  including  the  salaries 
of  their  agents  and  officers,  and  the  expenses  in 
cident  to  all  organizations,  was  less  than  $100,- 
000. 

Their  purposes,  as  far  as  your  Committee  can 
ascertain,  were  lawful,  and  contributed  to  sup 
ply  those  wants  most  experienced  in  the  settle 
ment  of  a  new  country. 

The  only  persons  or  company  who  emigrated 
into  the  Territory  under  the  auspices  of  the  Emi 
grant  Aid  Society  in  1855,  prior  to  the  election 
in  March,  was  a  party  of  159  persons  who  came 
under  the  charge  of  Charles  Robinson  (231). 

In  this  party  there  were  67  women  and  chil 
dren  (232),  They  came  as  actual  settlers,  intend 
ing  to  make  their  homes  in  the  Territory,  and 
for  no  other  purpose  (233).  They  had  about  their 
persons  but  little  baggage ;  usually  sufficient 
clothing  in  a  carpet-sack  tor  a  short  time.  Their 
personal  effects,  such  as  clothing,  furniture,  etc., 
was  put  into  trunks  and  boxes  ;  and  for  conve 
nience  in  selecting  and  cheapness  in  transport 
ing,  was  marked  "Kansas  party  baggage,  care 
B.  Slater,  St.  Louis."  Generally  this  was  con 
signed  as  freight,  in  the  usual  way,  to  the  care 
of  a  commission  merchant.  This  party  had,  in 
addition  to  the  usual  allowance  of  one  hundred 
pounds  to  each  passenger,  a  large  quantity  of 
Daggftge  on  which  the  respective  owners  paid 

(231)  Benj.  Slater,  Charlee  Robinson,  P.  A.  Hunt. 
(232)  Charles  Robinson.  (233)  Samuel  C.  Smith. 


the  usual  extra  freight  (234).  Each  passenger 
or  party  paid  his  or  their  own  expenses;  and 
the  only  benefit  they  derived  from  the  Society, 
not  shared  by  all  the  people  of  the  Territory, 
was  the  reduction  of  about  $7  in  the  price  of  the 
fare,  the  convenience  of  traveling  in  a  company 
instead  of  alone,  and  the  cheapness  and  facility 
of  transporting  their  freight  through  regular 
agents.  Subsequently,  many  emigrants,  being 
either  disappointed  with  the  country  or  its  poli 
tical  condition,  or  deceived  by  the  statements 
made  by  the  newspapers  and  by  the  agents  of 
the  Society,  became  dissatisfied,  and  returned, 
both  before  and  after  the  election,  to  their  old 
homes.  Most  of  them  are  now  settlers  in  the 
Territory  (235).  Some  few  voted  at  the  election 
in  Lawrence  (235),  but  the  number  was  small. 
The  names  of  these  emigrants  have  been  ascer 
tained,  and  of  them  were  found  upon 

the  poll-books.  This  company  of  peaceful  emi 
grants,  moving  with  their  household  goods,  was 
distorted  into  an  invading  horde  of  pauper  Abo 
litionists,  who  were,  with  others  of  a  similar 
character,  to  control  the  domestic  institutions 
of  the  Territory,  and  then  overturn  those  of  a 
neighboring  powerful  State. 

In  regard  to  the  second  charge  :  There  is  no 
pi-oof  that  any  man  was  either  hired  or  induced 
to  come  into  the  Territory  from  any  Free  State, 
merely  to  vote.  The  entire  emigration  in  March 
1855,  is  estimated  at  500  persons  (236), including 
men,  women,  and  children.  They  came  on  steam 
boats  up  the  Missouri  River,  in  the  ordinary 
course  of  emigration.  Many  returned  for  causes 
similar  to  those  before  stated  ;  but  the  body  of 
them  are  now  residents.  The  only  persons  of 
those  who  were  connected  by  proof  with  the 
election,  were  some  who  voted  at  the  Big  Blue 
Precinct  in  the  Xth  District,  and  at  Pawnee  in 
the  IXth  District,  Their  purpose  and  character 
are  stated  in  a  former  part  of  Ihis  report. 

The  third  charge  is  entirely  groundless.  The 
organic  law  requires  the  Governor  to  cause  an 
enumeration  of  the  inhabitants  and  legal  voters 
to  be  made,  and  that  he  apportion  the  members 
of  the  Council  and  House  according  to  this  enu 
meration.  For  reasons  stated  by  persons  en 
gaged  in  taking  the  census,  it  was  not  completed 
until  the  early  part  of  March,  1855  (237).  At  that 
time  the  day  of  holding  the  election  had  not  been, 
and  could  not  have  been,  named  by  the  Governor. 
As  soon  as  practicable  after  the  returns  were 
brought  in,  he  issued  his  proclamation  for  an 
election,  and  named  the  earliest  day  consistent 
with  due  notice,  as  the  day  of  election.  The  day 
on  which  the  election  was  to  be  held,  was  a  mat 
ter  of  conjecture  all  over  the  country;  but  it 
was  generally  known  that  it  would  be  in  the 
latter  part  of  March.  The  precise  day  was  not 
known  by  any  one  until  the  proclamation  issued. 
It  was  not  known  to  the  agents  of  the  Emigrant 
Aid  Society  in  Boston  on  the  13th  of  March,  1855, 
when  the  party  of  emigrants,  before  referred  to, 
left  (238). 

Your  Committee  are  satisfied  that  these  charges 
were  made  the  mere  pretext  to  induce  an  armed 
invasion  into  the  Territory,  as  a  means  to  control 
the  election  and  establish  Slavery  there. 

The  real  purpose  is  avowed  and  illustrated  by 
the  testimony  and  conduct  of  Col.  John  Scott,  of 
St.  Joseph's,  Missouri,  who  acted  as  the  attorney 
for  the  sitting  delegate  before  your  Committee. 
The  following  are  extracts  from  his  deposition : 

Prior  to  the  election  in  Burr-Oak  precinct,  in  the 
XlVth  district,  on  the  29th  of  November,  1854,  I  had 
been  a  resident  of  Missouri,  and  I  then  determined, 
'f  I  found  it  necessary,  to  become  a  resident  of  Kansas 

(234)  B.  Slater  and  P.  A.  Hunt.  (235)  Charles  Robin 
son,  Samuel  C.  Smith.  (236)  W.  H.  Chick,  Mr.  Rid- 
dlerburger.  (237)  Wm.  Barbour.  (238)  Charles  Rob- 
LOIOB. 


THE  KANSAS-NEBRASKA  STRUGGLE. 


137 


Territory.  On  the  day  previous  to  that  election,  I 
Battled  up  iny  board  at  my  boardiitg-house,  in  St. 
Joseph's,  Missouri,  and  went  over  to  the  Territory, 
and  took  boarding  with  Mr.  Bryant,  near  whose  house 
the  polls  were  hell  the  next  day,  for  one  month,  so 
that  I  might  have  it  in  my  power,  by  merely  deter 
mining  To  do  so,  to  become  a  resident  of  the  Territory 
on  the  dav  of  election. 

"  When  my  name  was  proposed  as  a  Judge  of  Elec 
tion,  objections  were  made  by  two  persons  only.  *  *  *  * 
I  then  publicly  informed  those  present,  that  I  had  a 
claim  in  the  Territory  ;  that  I  had  taken  board  in  the 
Territory  for  a  month,  and  tliat  I  could,  at  any  mo 
ment,  become  an  actual  resident  and  legal  voter  in  the 
Territf  ry,  and  that  I  would  do  so,  if  I  concluded  at 
any  time  during  the  day  that  my  vote  wou'd  be  neces 
sary  to  carry  that  precinct  in  favor  of  the  Pro-Slavery 
candidate  for  delegate  to  Congress.  *****  I  did 
not  during  the  day  consider  it  necessary  to  become  a 
resident  of  the  Territory  for  the  purpose  mentioned, 
and  (lid  not  vote  or  offer  to  vote  at  that  election. 

"I  held  the  office  of  City-Attorney  for  St.  Joseph's 
at  that  time,  and  had  held  it  for  two  or  three  years 
previously,  and  continued  to  hold  it  until  this  spring. 
*  *  *  I  voted  at  an  election  in  St.  Joseph's,  in  the 
spring  of  1855,  and  was  re-appointed  City-Attorney. 
The  question  of  Slavery  wae  put  in  issue  at,  the  election 
of  November,  1854,  to  the  same  extent  as  in  every  elec 
tion  in  this  Territory.  G*-n.  Whitfield  was  regarded 
as  the  Pro-Slavery  candidate  for  the  Pro-Slavery 
party.  I  regarded  the  question  of  Slavery  as  the  pri 
marily  promiuei't  issue  at  that  election,  and,  so  far  as 
I  know,  all  parties  agreed  in  making  that  question  the 
issue  of  that  election. 

"  It  is  my  intention,  and  the  intention  of  a  great 
many  other  Missouiians  now  resident  in  Missouri, 
whenever  the  Slavery  issue  is  to  be  determined  upon  by 
the  people  of  this  Territory  in  the  adoption  of  the  State 
Constitution,  to  remove  to  this  Territory  in  time  to  ac 
quire  the  right  to  become  legal  voters  upon  that  question. 
The  /e"ding  purpose  tf  i>ur  intended  removal  to  the 
Territory  is  to  determine  the  domestic  institutions  nf 
tkts  7'tnitury,  when  it  comes  to  be  a  State,  and  we 
would  not  come  but  for  that  purpose,  and  would  never 
think  of  coming  here  but  for  that  purpose.  I  believe 
there  arc  a  great  many  in  Missouri  who  are  so  situated." 

The  invasion  of  March  30th  left  both  parties  in 
a  state  of  excitement,  tending  directly  to  produce 
violence.  The  successful  party  was  lawless  and 
reckless,  while  assuming  the  name  of  the  "Law 
and  Order"  party.  The  other  party,  at  first  sur 
prised  and  confounded,  was  greatly  irritated,  and 
some  resolved  to  prevent  the  success  of  the  inva 
sion.  In  some  Districts,  as  before  stated,  protests 
were  sent  to  the  Governor ;  in  others,  this  was 
prevented  by  threats  ;  in  others,  by  the  want  of 
time,  only  four  days  being  allowed  by  the  pro 
clamation  for  this  purpose  ;  and  in  others,  by  the 
belief  that  a  new  election  would  bring  a  new  in 
vasion.  About  the  same  time,  all  classes  of  men 
commenced  bearing  deadly  weapons  about  the 
person,  a  practice  which  has  continued  to  this 
time.  Under  these  circumstances,  a  slight  or 
accidental  quarrel  produced  unusual  violence, 
and  lawless  acts  became  frequent.  This  evil 
condition  of  the  public  mind  was  further  increased 
by  acts  of  violence  in  Western  Missouri,  where, 
in  April,  a  newspaper  press  called  The  Parkville 
Luminary  was  destroyed  by  a  mob. 

About  the  same  time,  Malcolm  Clark  assaulted 
Cole  McCrea,  at  a  squatter  meeting  in  Leaven- 
worth,  and  was  shot  by  McCrea,  in  alleged  self- 
defense. 

On  the  17th  day  of  May,  William  Phillips,  a 
lawyer  of  Leavenworth,  was  first  notified  to  leave, 
and  upon  his  refusal,  was  forcibly  seized,  taken 
across  the  river,  and  carried  several  miles  into 
Missouri,  arid  then  tarred  and  feathered,  and  one 
side  of  his  head  shaved,  and  other  gross  indigni 
ties  put  upon  his  person. 

Previous  to  the  outrage  a  public  meeting  was 
held  (239),  at  which  resolutions  were  unanimously 

Sassed,  looking  to  unlawful  violence,  and  grossly 
itolerant  in  their  character.    The  right  of  free 
speech  upon  the  subject  of  Slavery  was  charac- 

(239)  A.  Payne. 


terized  as  a  disturbance  of  the  peace  and  quiet 
of  the  community,  and  as  "  circulating  incen 
diary  sentiments."  They  say  "to  the  peculiar 
friends  of  northern  fanatics,"  "  Go  home  and  do 
your  treason  where  you  may  find  sympathy. 
Among  other  resolves,  is  the  following  : 

"Resolved,  That  the  institution  of  Slavery  is  known 
and  recognized  in  this  Territory;  that  we  repel  the 
doctrine  that  it  is  a  moral  and  political  evil,  and  we 
hurl  back  with  scorn  upon  its  slanderous  authors  the 
charge  of  inhumanity ;  and  we  warn  all  persons  not  to 
come  to  our  paceful  firesides  to  slander  us,  and  tow 
the  seeds  of  discord  between  the  master  and  the  serv 
ant;  for,  as  much  as  we  deprecate  the  necessity  to 
which  we  may  be  driven,  we  cannot  be  responsible  for 
the  consequences." 

A  Committee  of  Vigilance  of  30  men  was  ap 
pointed,  "  to  observe  and  report  all  such  persons 
as  shall,  *  *  by  the  expression  of  Abolition 
sentiments,  produce  disturbance  to  the  quiet  of 
the  citizens,  or  danger  to  their  domestic  rela 
tions  ;  and  all  such  persons  so  offending,  shall  be 
notified,  and  made  to  leave  the  Territory." 

The  meeting  was  "  ably  and  eloquently  ad 
dressed  by  Judge  Lecompte,  Col.  J.  N.  Burns 
of  Western  Missouri,  and  others."  Thus  the  head 
of  the  Judiciary  in  the  Territory,  not  only  assist 
ed  at  a  public  and  bitterly  partisan  meeting, 
whose  direct  tendency  was  to  produce  violence 
and  disorder,  but  before  any  law  is  passed  in  the 
Territory,  he  prejudges  the  character  of  the  do 
mestic  institutions,  which  the  people  of  the  Ter 
ritory  were,  by  their  organic  law,  "  left  perfectly 
free  to  form  and  regulate  in  their  own  way." 

On  this  Committee  were  several  of  those  who 
held  certificates  of  election  as  members  of  the 
Legislature  ;  some  of  the  others  were  then  and 
still  are  residents  of  Missouri ;  and  many  of  the 
Committee  have  since  been  appointed  to  the 
leading  offices  in  the  Territory,  one  of  which  is 
the  Sheriffalty  of  the  County.  Their  first  act 
was  that  of  mobbing  Phillips. 

Subsequently,  on  the  25th  of  May,  A.  D.  1855, 
a  public  meeting  was  held,  at  which  R.  It.  Eees, 
a  member  elect  of  the  Council,  presided  (240). 
The  following  resolutions,  offered  by  Judge 
Payne,  a  member  elect  of  the  House,  were  una 
nimously  adopted : 

"  Resolved,  That  we  heartily  indorse  the  action  of 
the  committee  of  citizens  that  shaved,  tarred,  and 
feathered,  rode  on  a  rail,  and  had  sold  by  a  negro,  Wm. 
Phillips,  the  moral  perjurer. 

"  Resolved,  That  we  return  our  thanks  to  the  com 
mittee  for  faithfully  performing  the  trust  enjoined 
unpn  them  by  the  Pro-Slavery  party. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  committee  be  now  discharged. 

"  Resolved,  That  we  severely  condemn  those  Pro- 
Slavery  men  who,  from  mercenary  motives,  are  call 
ing  upon  the  Pro-Slavery  party  to  submit  without 
further  action. 

"  Resolved,  That  in  order  to  secure  peace  and  har 
mony  to  the  community,  we  now  solemnly  declare  that 
the  Pro-Slavery  party  will  stand  6rmly  by  and  carry 
out  the  resolutions  reported  by  the  committee  ap 
pointed  for  that  purpose  on  the  memorable  30th." 

The  act  of  moral  perjury  here  referred  to,  is 
the  swearing  by  Phillips  to  a  truthful  protest  in 
regard  to  the  election  of  March  30,  in  the  XVIth 
District, 

The  members  receiving  their  certificates  of 
the  Governor  as  members  of  the  General  As 
sembly  of  the  Territory,  met  at  Pawnee,  the 
Slace  appointed  by  the"  Governor,  on  the  2d  of 
uly,  A.  D.  1855.  Their  proceedings  are  stated 
in  three  printed  books,  herewith  submitted,  en 
titled  respectively,  "  The  Statutes  of  the  Terri 
tory  of  Kansas  ;"  "  The  Journal  of  the  Council 
of  the  Territory  of  Kansas ;"  and  "  The  Journal 
of  the  House  of  Representatives  of  the  Territory 
of  Kansas." 

Your  Committee  do  not  regard  their  enact 
ments  as  valid  laws.  A  Legislature  thus  im- 

(240)  R.  B.  Reos. 


138 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  SLAVERY  RESTRICTION. 


posed  upon  a  people,  cannot  affect  their  political 
rights.  Such  an  attempt  to  do  so,  if  successful, 
is  virtually  an  overthrow  of  the  organic  law,  and 
reduces  the  people  of  the  Territory  to  the  condi 
tion  of  vassals  to  a  neighboring  State.  To  avoid 
the  evils  of  anarchy,  no  armed  or  organized  re 
sistance  to  them  should  be  made,  but  the  citi 
zens  should  appeal  to  the  ballot-box  at  public 
elections,  to  the  Federal  Judiciary,  and  to  Con 
gress,  for  relief.  Such,  from  the  proof,  would 
have  been  the  course  of  the  people,  but  for  the 
nature  of  these  enactments  and  the  manner  in 
which  they  are  enforced.  Their  character  and 
their  execution  have  been  so  intimately  con 
nected  with  one  branch  of  this  investigation — 
that  relating  to  "violent  and  tumultuous  pro 
ceedings  in  the  Territory" — that  we  were  com 
pelled  to  examine  them. 

The  "  laws"  in  the  statute-books  are  general 
and  special ;  the  latter  are  strictly  of  a  local 
character,  relating  to  bridges,  roads,  and  the  like. 
The  great  body  of  the  general  laws  are  exact 
transcripts  from  the  Missouri  Code.  To  make 
them  in  some  cases  conform  to  the  organic  act, 
separate  acts  were  passed,  defining  the  meaning 
of  words.  Thus  the  word  "  State"  is  to  be  under 
stood  as  meaning  "Territory"  (241);  the  word 
"  County  Court"  shall  be  construed  to  mean  the 
Board  of  Commissioners  transacting  county 
business,  or  the  Probate  Court,  according  to  the 
intent  thereof.  The  words  "  Circuit  Court"  to 
mean  "  District  Court"  ('-342). 

The  material  differences  in  the  Missouri  and 
Kansas  statutes  are  upon  the  following  subjects : 
The  qualifications  of  voters  and  of  members  of 
the  legislative  assembly  ;  the  official  oath  of  all 
officers,  attorneys,  and  voters ;  the  mode  of  select 
ing  officers  and  their  qualifications;  the  slave 
code,  and  the  qualifications  of  jurors. 

Upon  these  subjects  the  provisions  of  the  Mis 
souri  Code  are  such  as  are  usual  in  many  of  the 
States.  But  by  the  "  Kansas  Statutes,"  every 
office  in  the  Territory,  executive  and  judicial, 
was  to  be  appointed  by  the  legislature,  or  by 
some  officer  appointed  by  it.  These  appoint 
ments  were  not  merely  to  meet  a  temporary  exi 
gency,  but  were  to  hold  over  two  regular  elec 
tions,  and  until  after  the  general  election  in 
October,  1857  (243),  at  which  the  members  of  the 
new  Council  were  to  be  elected  (244).  The  new 
Legislature  is  required  to  meet  on  the  first  Mon 
day  in  January,  1858  (245).  Thus,  by  the  terms 
of  these  "laws,"  the  people  have  no  control 
whatever  over  either  the  Legislature,  the  execu 
tive,  or  the  judicial  departments  of  the  territori 
al  government  until  a  time  before  which,  by  the 
natural  progress  of  population,  the  territorial 
government  will  be  superseded  by  a  State  gov 
ernment. 

No  session  of  the  Legislature  is  to  be  held 
during  1856,  but  the  members  of  the  House  are 
to  be  elected  in  October  of  that  year  (246).  A 
candidate,  to  be  eligible  at  this  election,  must 
swear  to  support  the  fugitive-slave  law  (247),  and 
each  judge  of  election,  and  each  voter,  if  chal 
lenged,  must  take  the  same  oath  (248).  The 
same  oath  is  required  of  every  officer  elected  or 
appointed  in  the  Territory,  and  of  every  attorney 
admitted  to  practice  in  the  courts  (24'J). 

A  portion  of  the  militia  is  required  to  muster 
on  the  day  of  election  (250).  "  Every  free  white 
male  citizen  of  the  United  States,  and  every 
free  male  Indian,  who  is  made  a  citizen  by  treaty 
or  otherwise,  and  over  the  age  of  twenty-one 
vears,  and  who  shall  be  an  inhabitant  of  the 
Territory  and  of  the  county  and  district  in  which 
he  offers  to  vote,  and  shall  have  paid  a  territori- 

(241)  Statutes,  page  713.  (242)  Statutes,  page  766. 
(243)  iStatutf-s,  pages  163,  227,  712.  (244)  330  (245) 
475.  C24t>)  Statutes,  page  330.  (247)  p.  333.  (248)  p. 
332.  (249)  pp.  152,  339,  5,  6.  (250)  p.  469. 


al  tax,  shall  be  a  qualified  elector  for  all  elect 
ive  offices  (251)."  Two  classes  of  persons  were 
thus  excluded  who  by  the  organic  act  were  al 
lowed  to  vote,  viz. :  those  who  would  not  swear 
to  the  oath  required,  and  those  of  foreign  birth 
who  had  declared  on  oath  their  intention  to  be 
come  citizens  (252).  Any  man  of  proper  age 
who  was  in  the  Territory  on  the  day  of  election, 
and  who  had  paid  one  dollar  as  a  tax  to  the  Sher 
iff,  who  was  required  to  be  at  the  polls  to  receive 
it  (253),  could  vote  as  an  "  inhabitant,"  although 
he  had  breakfasted  in  Missouri,  and  intended  to 
return  there  for  supper.  There  can  be  no  doubt 
that  this  unusual  and  unconstitutional  provision 
was  inserted  to  prevent  a  full  and  fair  expression 
of  the  popular  will  in  the  election  of  members  of 
the  House,  or  to  control  it  by  non-residents. 

All  Jurors  are  required  to  be  selected  by  the 
Sherift,  and  "  no  person  who  is  conscientiously 
opposed  to  the  holding  of  slaves,  or  who  does 
not  admit  the  right  to  hold  slaves  in  the  Territory, 
shall  be  a  juror  in  any  cause"  affecting  the  right 
to  hold  slaves,  or  relating  to  slave  property. 

The  Slave  Code,  and  every  provision  relating 
to  slaves,  are  of  a  character  intolerant  and  unu 
sual  even  for  that  class  of  legislation.  The  char 
acter  and  conduct  of  the  men  appointed  to  hold 
office  in  the  Territory  contributed  very  much  to 
produce  the  events  which  followed.  Thus  Samuel 
I.  Jones  was  appointed  Sheriff  of  the  County  of 
Douglas,  which  included  within  it  the  1st  and 
lid  Election-Districts.  He  had  made  himself 
peculiarly  obnoxious  to  the  settlers  by  his  con 
duct  on  the  30th  of  March  in  the  lid  District, 
and  by  his  burning  the  cabins  of  Joseph  Oakley 
and  Samuel  Smith  (254). 

An  election  for  delegates  to  Congress,  to  be 
held  on  the  1st  day  of  October,  1855,  was  pro 
vided  for  with  the  same  rules  and  regulations  as 
were  applied  to  other  elections.  The  Free-State 
men  took  no  part  in  this  election,  having  made 
arrangements  for  holding  an  election  on  the  'Jth 
of  the  same  month.  The  citizens  of  Missouri 
attended  at  the  election  of  the  1st  of  October, 
some  paying  the  dollar  tax,  others  not  being  re 
quired  to  pay  it.  They  were  present  and  voted 
at  the  voting-places  of  Atchison  (255)  and  Doni- 
phan  (256),  in  Atchison  County;  at  Green 
Springs,  Johnson  County  (257) ;  at  Willow 
Springs  (258)  ;  Franklin  (259),  and  Lecompton 
(260),  in  Douglas  County;  at  Fort  Scott,  Bour 
bon  County  (261, ;  at  Baptiste  Paola,Lykins  Co., 
where  some  Indians  voted,  some  whites  paying 
the  $1  tax  for  them  (262);  at  Leaveuworth 
City  (263),  and  at  Kickapoo  City,  Leavenworth 
County ;  at  the  latter  place  under  the  lead  of 
Gen.  B.  F.  Stringfellow  and  Col.  Lewis  Barnes 
of  Missouri  (264).  From  two  of  the  election  pre 
cincts  at  which  it  was  alleged  there  was  illegal 
voting — viz. :  Delaware  and  Wyandotte,  your 
Committee  failed  to  obtain  the  attendance  of 
witnesses.  Your  Committee  did  not  deem  it  ne 
cessary,  in  regard  to  this  election,  to  enter  into 
details,  as  it  was  manifest  that,  from  there  being 
but  one  candidate — Gen.  Whitfield — he  must 
have  received  a  majority  of  the  votes  cast. 
This  election,  therefore,  depends  not  on  tho 
number  or  character  of  the  votes  received,  but 
upon  the  validity  of  the  laws  under  which  it  was 
held.  Sufficient  testimony  was  taken  to  show 
that  the  voting  of  citizens  of  Missouri  was  prac 
ticed  at  this  election,  as  at  all  former  elections  in 
the  Territory.  The  following  table  will  exhibit 

(251)  p.  332.  (252)  Statutes,  p.  34.  (253)  p.  333.  (254) 
Samu  Smith  and  Ed.  Oakley.  (255)  D.  W.  Field.  (256) 
John  Landis.  (257)  Robert  Morrow,  E.  Jenkins,  B.  C. 
Westfall.  (?58)  A.  White,  T.  Wolverton,  J.  Reid. 
(259)  L.  M.  Cox,  L.  A.  Prather.  (260)  B.  C.  Westfall. 
(26J)  E.  B.  Cook,  J.  Hamilton.  (262)  B  C.  Westfall. 
(263)  G.  F.  Warren,  II.  Niles  Moore.  (264)  J.  W.  Ste 
phens. 


THE  KANSAS-NEBRASKA   STRUGGLE. 


139 


the  result  of  the  testimony  as  regards  the  number 
of  legal  and  illegal  votes  at  this  election.  The 
County  of  Marshall  embraces  the  same  territory 
as  was  included  in  the  Xlth  District ;  and  the 
reasons  before  stated  indicate  that  the  great  ma 


jority  of  the  votes  then  cast  were  either  illegal 
or  fictitious.  In  the  counties  to  which  our  ex 
amination  extended,  there  were  —  illegal  votes 
cast,  as  near  as  the  proof  will  enable  us  to  deter - 


ABSTRACT  OF  POLL-BOOKS  OF  OCTOBER  1    1855. 


COUNTIES. 

TOWNSHIPS. 

^55 

3 

si 

is 

f! 
i  ? 

Scattering....  ... 

Total  Votes  cast  

No.  of  Legal  Votes-  ~ 

No.  of  Illegal  Votes- 

7 

Shannon  ---.  ...»  ....  ....  _. 

131 

242 

4 

219 

242 

50 

4 

29 

29 

8 

4 

12 

12 

Doniphan._  

Burr  Oak  

Iowa  ,   .......  ....... 

42 
31 

41 
31 

1 

66 

62 

4 

59 

59 

Wolf  River 

53 

251 

53 

Frauklin 

86 

23 

42 

42 

101 

Willow  Springs  

103 

332 

53 

50 

Franklin 

15 

15 

15 

42 

3 

45 

190 

190 

90 

100 

Leavenworth  .  ... 

Alexandria  

42 
239 

— 

150 

1 

5n 

212 

100 

Wyandott    ..... 

246 

B 

895 



Lykins     

220 

220 

70 

150 

67 

67 

(See  Wise  Co  ) 

Marshall      .     ..  

171 

171 

24 

147 

6 

6 

6 

Riley 

28 

28 

9fi 

23 

23 

52 

75 

ft? 

Wise  „_-*  

Council  Grove  

14 

- 

14 

14 

- 

While  these  enactments  of  the  alleged  legisla 
tive  assembly  were  being  made,  a  movement 
was  instituted  to  form  a  State  government,  and 
apply  for  admission  into  the  Union  as  a  State. 
The  first  step  taken  by  the  people  of  the  Territo 
ry,  in  consequence  of  the  invasion  of  March  30, 
1855,  was  the  circulation  for  signature  of  a 

f^aphic  and  truthful  memorial  to  Congress. 
our  Committee  find  that  every  allegation  in 
this  memorial  has  been  sustained  by  the  testi 
mony.  No  further  step  was  taken,  as  it  was 
hoped  that  some  action  by  the  general  govern 
ment  would  protect  them  in  their  rights.  When 
the  alleged  legislative  assembly  proceeded  to 
construct  the  series  of  enactments  referred  to,  the 
settlers  were  of  opinion  that  submission  to  them 
would  result  in  depriving  them  of  the  rights  se 
cured  to  them  by  the  organic  law.  Their  politi 
cal  condition  was  freely  discussed  in  the  Territo 
ry  during  the  summer  of  1855.  Several  meetings 
were  held  in  reference  to  holding  a  convention  to 
form  a  State  government,  and  to  apply  for 
admission  into  the  Union  as  a  State.  Public 
opinion  gradually  settled  in  favor  of  sxich  an  ap 
plication  to  the  Congress  to  meet  in  December, 
1855.  The  first  general  meeting  was  held  in 
Lawrence  on  the  15th  of  August,  1855. 

The  following  preamble  and  resolutions  were 
then  passed : 

"  Whereas,  The  people  of  Kansas  have  been,  since 
its  settlement,  and  now  axe,  without  any  law-making 
power,  therefore  be  it 


"  Resolved,  That  we,  the  people  of  Kansas  Territory, 
in  mass  meeting  assembled,  irrespective  of  party  dis 
tinctions,  influenced  by  common  necessity,  and  great 
ly  desirous  of  promoting  the  common  good,  do  hereby 
call  upon  and  request  all  bf>na  fide  citizens  of  Kan 
sas  Territory,  of  whatever  political  views  or  predilec 
tions,  to  consult  together  in  their  respective  Election- 
Districts,  and  in  mass  convention  or  otherwise,  elect 
three  delegates  for  each  representative  to  which  said 
Election- District  is  entitled  in  the  House  of  Repre 
sentatives  of  the  Legislative  Assembly,  by  proclama 
tion  of  Governor  Reeder,  of  date  19th  of  March,  1855  ; 
said  delegates  to  assemble  in  convention,  at  the  town 
of  Topeka,  on  the  19th  day  of  September,  J855,  then 
and  there  to  consider  and  determine  upon  all  sub 
jects  of  public  interest,  and  particularly  upon  that 
having  reference  to  the  speedy  formation  of  a  State 
Constitution,  with  an  intention  of  an  immediate  ap 
plication  to  be  admitted  as  a  State  into  the  Union  of 
the  United  States  of  America." 

Other  meetings  were  held  in  various  parts  of 
the  Territory,  which  indorsed  the  action  of  the 
Lawrence  meeting,  and  delegates  were  selected 
in  compliance  with  its  recommendations. 

They  met  at  Topeka,  on  the  19th  day  of  Sep 
tember,  1855.  By  their  resolutions  they  pro 
vided  for  the  appointment  of  an  Executive  Com 
mittee  to  consist  of  seven  persons,  who  were  re 
quired  to  "  keep  a  record  of  their  proceedings, 
and  shall  have  a  general  sxiperintendence  of  the 
affairs  of  the  Territory  so  far  as  regards  the  or 
ganization  of  the  State  Government/'  They 
were  required  to  take  steps  for  an  election  to  be 
held  on  the  second  Tuesday  of  the  October  fol- 


140 


THE  STRUGGLE   FOR  SLAVERY  RESTRICTION. 


lowing,  under  regulations  imposed  by  that  Com 
mittee,  "  for  members  of  a  Convention  to  form  a 
Constitution,  adopt  a  Bill  of  Rights  for  the  peo 
ple  of  Kansas,  and  take  all  needful  measures  for 
organizing  a  State  Government,  preparatory  to 
the  admission  of  Kansas  into  the  Union  as  a 
State."  The  rules  prescribed  were  such  as 
usually  govern  elections  in  most  of  the  States  of 
the  Union,  and  in  most  respects  were  similar  to 
those  contained  in  the  proclamation  of  Gov. 
Eeeder  for  the  election  of  March  30, 1855. 

The  Executive  Committee,  appointed  by  that 
Convention,  accepted  then*  appointment,  and  en 
tered  upon  the  discharge  of  their  duties  by  issu 
ing^  a  proclamation  addressed  to  the  legal  voters 
of  Kansas,  requesting  them  to  meet  at  their  seve 
ral  precincts,  at  the  time  and  places  named  in 
the  proclamation,  then  and  there  to  cast  their 
ballots  for  members  of  a  Constitutional  Conven 
tion,  to  meet  at  Topeka  on  the  4th  Tuesday  of 
October  then  next. 

The  proclamation  designated  the  places  of 
elections,  appointed  judges,  recited  the  qualifica 
tions  of  voters  and  the  apportionment  of  mem 
bers  of  the  Convention. 

After  this  proclamation  was  issued,  public 
meetings  were  held  in  every  district  in  the  Ter 


ritory,  and  in  nearly  every  precinct.  The  State 
movement  was  a  general  topic  of  discussion 
throughout  the  Territory,  and  there  was  but  lit 
tle  opposition  exhibited  to  it.  Elections  were 
held  at  the  time  and  places  designated,  and  the 
returns  were  sent  to  the  Executive  Committee. 

The  result  of  the  election  was  proclaimed  by 
the  Executive  Committee,  and  the  members-elect 
were  required  to  meet  on  the  23d  day  of  October, 
1855,  at  Topeka.  In  pursuance  of  this  procla 
mation  and  direction,  the  Constitutional  Conven 
tion  met  at  the  time  and  place  appointed,  and 
formed  a  State  Constitution.  A  memorial  to  Con 
gress  was  also  prepared,  praying  for  the  admis 
sion  of  Kansas  into  the  Union  under  that  Consti 
tution.  The  Convention  also  provided  that  the 
question  of  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution  and 
other  questions  be  submitted  to  the  people,  and 
required  the  Executive  Committee  to  take  the 
necessary  steps  for  that  purpose. 

Accordingly,  an  election  was  held  for  that  pur 
pose  on  the  loth  day  of  December,  1855,  in  com 
pliance  with  the  proclamation  issued  by  the  Exe 
cutive  Committee.  The  returns  of  this  election 
were  made  by  the  Executive  Committee,  and  an 
abstract  of  them  is  contained  in  the  following 
table : 


ABSTRACT   OF  THE  ELECTION   ON  THE  ADOPTION  OP  THE 
STATE   CONSTITUTION,   DEC.   15,   1855. 


Districts  

PRECINCTS. 

Constitution. 

General  Bank 
ing  Law. 

Exclusion  of 

IS  eg  roes  and 
Alulattoefi* 

No.  votes  cast  . 

Yes. 

No. 

Yes. 

No. 

Yes. 

No. 

1 

2 
3 

4 
5 

7 
8 

9 
10 

11 
13 

14 

15 
16 
17 

348 
72 
11 
48 
137 
18 
135 
42 
24 
35 
72 
21 
18 
12 
39 
42 
32 
56 
39 
30 
21 
20 
14 
19 
45 
54 
22 
23 
12 
28 
20 
47 
19 
7 
24 
15 
32 
71 
7 

1 
2 
1 
4 

225 
59 
9 
31 
122 
13 
125 
41 
22 
23 
39 
16 
5 
6 
21 
33 
4 
33 
32 
23 
16 

17 
15 
19 
5 
7 
1 
8 
7 
37 

1 
11 
4 
32 
63 
3 

83 
14 
3 
15 
11 
4 
9 
1 
2 
11 
38 
12 
16 
6 
19 
13 

as 

20 
7 
6 
5 
20 
14 
1 
29 
34 
14 
16 
11 
20 
13 
6 
18 
4 
12 
9 
1 
19 

133 
48 
12 
48 
113 
14 
69 
42 
22 
35 
69 
23 
20 
12 
25 
42 
33 
38 
25 
10 
20 
20 
14 
7 
40 
50 
21 
22 
12 
28 
16 
45 
19 
6 
18 
14 
30 
71 
1 

223 
20 

2 
15 
4 
64 

2 

3 

7 

18 
2 
5 
17 
15 
19 
1 

11 
6 
3 

1 

4 
1 

6 
1 

2 

2 

356 
76 
12 
53 
137 
18 
136 
42 
24 
35 
72 
31 
21 
12 
43 
60 
37 
59 
44 
31 
21 
20 
14 
19 
45 
54 
22 
23 
12 
28 
20 
47 
19 
7 
24 
15 
33 
73 
7 

Palmyra  ....  .... 



Topeka  .  

Washington    .  .. 

— 

Prairie  City  ... 

Little  Osage  . 

7 

2 

3 

18 

1 

5 

Big  Sugar...  .......    .  . 

Neosho....  ........ 

Little  Sugar  .  

Ossawattamie     ... 

Titus      '            . 

Ohio  City  .. 

Mill  Creek 

St.  Mary's  

— 

Waubaunsee.  ....  . 

Pawnee  

Grasshopper  Falls.... 

-- 

Burr  Oak  ,. 

Jesse  Padur's  . 

Ocena 

Pleasant  Hill  

2 

Indiana  

Whitfleld  

Wolf  River  

St.  Joseph's  Bottom 

Mt.  Pleasant     ..  ...     . 

Total  

1731 

46 

1120 

664 

1287 

453 

1778 

N.  B.  Poll-Book  at  Leavenworth  was  destroyed. 

The  Executive  Committe  then  issued  a  procla 
mation  reciting  the  results  of  the  election  of  the 
15th  of  December,  and  at  the  same  time  provi 


ded  for  an  election  to  be  held  on  the  15th  day  of 
January,  1856,  for  State  officers  and  members 
of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  State  of  Kansas. 


THE  KANSAS-NEBRASKA  STRUGGLE. 


141 


An  election  was  aooordingljtheld  in  the  several  |  sent  to  the  Executive  Committee.    An  abstract 
election-precincts,  the  returns   of  which  were  I  of  them  is  contained  in  the  following  table  : 

ABSTRACT  OF  THE  ELECTION  OF  JANUARY   15,  1856. 


PKSCINCTS. 

? 
0 

a 

1 

32 
82 
19 
66 
2t 
49 
27 
36 
28 
31 
39 
28 
52 
24 
42 
10 
25 
8 
33 
19 
83 
1 
3 
14 
94 
365 

1 

Gov.  W.  Y.  Roberts  

5? 

e-h 

0 

o 
4 

$ 

t< 

# 
o 

•-j 

00 

S? 
0 
I* 

f 

g 
«-i 

*3 
» 

5 

o 

Sec.  State. 

Auditor. 

Treasurer. 

Att.  Gen.  H.  Miles  Moore- 

» 
f 

3 
3 
g 

i 

F 
Q 

1 
ft 

<«j 

H 

O 
W 

o 

s 

9 

> 

| 

»i 

S3 
p 

* 

i 
t? 

IH 
j» 

S 

1 
F 

& 
Q 
W 

O 
a 
^ 

fO 

<-<1 

: 

Washington  .  -  

29 

32 
80 
19 
66 
24 
49 
27 
86 
28 
31 
39 
28 
42 
25 
43 
1 
25 
5 
35 
19 
61 
1 
3 
6 
94 
176 
13 
14 
34 

29 

I 

32 
82 
19 
66 
24 
50 
27 
36 
28 
31 
39 
28 
55 
27 
43 
10 
25 
8 
32 
19 
77 
1 

14 
94 
383 

29 
7 

1 

31 
81 
19 
66 
24 
49 
•27 
36 
28 
31 
39 
28 
54 
27 
43 
10 
25 
8 
34 
19 
83 
1 
3 
14 
94 
380 
13 

35 

29 
7 

1 

32 
82 
19 
64 
24 
50 
27 
36 
28 
31 
38 
28 
55 
27 
43 
10 
25 
8 
34 
19 
89 
8 
29 
14 
94 
385 
13 

35 

29 

30 
32 
81 
19 
75 

50 
27 
36 
31 
31 
39 
32 
78 
72 
45 
10 
25 
66 
34 
19 
145 
35 

30 
32 
78 
19 
73 
24 
50 
27 
36 
31 
28 
38 
32 
77 
71 
44 
10 
25 
66 
34 
19 
135 
35 
26 
65 
100 
395 
13 
14 
1 

o      ' 

6 
1 

7 
8 

3 

Burr  Oak 

St.  Jos-'ib's  Bottom..  . 

Wolf  River 

3 

4 

25 
50 

2 

58 

61 
34 
23 
51 
7 
41 

14 
1 

3 

East  Do  no-  law       

3 

4 

23 
37 
2 

58 

3 

4 

24 
45 
2 

4 
33 
45 
2 
9 

59 

4 
17 

38 
2 

Titus               

Blanton 

Prairif  C'tv 

Pleas;i  nt  Hill  

58 

62 
34 
23 
51 

7 

Franklin 

58 

48 

24 

51 
7 
36 

14 

Littlt*  ^uear  Creek 

Littl*-  Of  y  i"1 

64 
34 
23 
59 
7 
245 

68 
34 
23 
51 
7 
43 

11            «r"!li> 

Kick  i  poo 

65 
101 
426 
13 

35 

Slouch  Creuk 

— 

35 

14 

14 

Wyandot  - 

PRECINCTS. 

Supreme  Judges. 

Bep.  S. 
Court. 

coo 

*  ® 
?r 

^K 

if 

5 

0 

o 

c 

f 

Printer. 

s 

§ 

f 

i 

5° 
% 

£ 
s 

& 
*i 

*? 

9 
3 

rts 
8 

j? 

F° 

3 

| 
o 

D 

J_l 

J> 

3 

1 

£. 
S 

OQ 

w 

1 

a 
3' 

W 
g 

H 

or 
g 

I 

D 
DQ 

1 

W 

9 

g 

S' 

r 

i 

32 
81 
19 
66 
24 
50 
27 
36 
29 
31 
39 
28 
55 
27 
43 
10 
25 
8 
34 
19 
84 
1 

14 
94 
383 
13 
14 
35 

3 
31 

81 
19 
73 
24 
50 
27 
36 
27 
31 
39 
32 
55 
27 
43 
10 
25 
8 
34 
19 
141 
25 

14 

101 
370 

1 

31 
82 
19 
65 
24 
50 
27 
36 
28 
31 
39 
28 
55 
27 
43 
10 
35 
8 
34 
19 
84 
1 

14 
94 
371 

35 

29 

29 

27 

29 

7 

3 

1 
32 
79 
19 

66 
24 
50 
27 
36 
28 
31 
39 
28 
55 
27 
43 
10 
25 
8 
34 
19 
84 

14 

94 
380 

35 

30 
32 
82 
19 
76 
24 
50 
27 
39 
31 
31 
39 
32 
77 
70 
45 
*9 
25 
66 
36 
19 
145 
35 

65 
01 
27 
10 
14 
35 

1 

32 
82 
19 
70 
24 
50 
27 
36 
28 
31 
39 
28 
54 
25 
43 
10 
25 
8 
33 
19 
96 
1 
18 
14 
94 
373 
13 

35 

29 

7 

4 

4 
23 
45 

2 

57 

61 
34 

51 
7 
62 

14 

7 

Oaa^e 

7 

Easton  .    _..       .       . 

Burr  Oak     -. 

St.  Joseph's  Bottom  

3 

4 
24 
45 
2 

58 
84 

34 
8 
61 
7 
U 

Wolf  R:vf  r      .     .. 

— 

4 

4 
23 
45 
2 

57 

61 
34 

51 

7 
48 

14 

23 
45 
2 

Titus 

4 
23 
45 
2 

58 

Prairie  City  

Pleasant  Hill                         .     .. 

Mission 

Franklin                               

48 

Little  Sugar  Cre^k 

Little  Osage 

61 
34 

51 

7 
46 

14 

Tecum«eh 

51 
33 
10 

Leavenworth  

Lawrence.  .. 

13 
4 
35 

14 

Sloug'1  Ore»'k 

Wyandot  

*  Anthony  Floyd  1. 


142 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  SLAVERY  RESTRICTION. 


The  result  of  this  election  was  announced 
by  a  proclamation  by  the  Executive  Commit 
tee. 

In  accordance  with  the  Constitution  thus 
adopted,  the  members  of  the  State  Legislature 
and  most  of  the  State  officers  met  on  the  day 
and  at  the  place  designated  by  the  State  Con 
stitution,  and  tpok  the  oath  therein  prescribed. 

After  electing  United  States  Senators,  passing 
some  preliminary  laws,  and  appointing  a  Codi 
fying  Committee  and  preparing  a  Memorial  to 
Congress,  the  General  Assembly  adjourned  to 
meet  on  the  4th  day  of  July.  1856. 

The  laws  passed  were  all  conditional  upon  the 
admission  ot  Kansas  as  a  State  into  the  Union. 
These  proceedings  were  regular,  and,  in  the  opin 
ion  of  your  Committee,  the  constitution  thus 
adopted  fairly  expresses  the  will  of  the  majority 
of  the  settlers.  They  now  await  the  action  of 
Congress  upon  their  memorial. 

These  elections,  whether  they  were  con 
ducted  in  pursuance  of  law  or  not,  were  not 
illegal. 

Whether  the  result  of  them  is  sanctioned  by 
the  action  of  Congress,  or  they  are  regarded  as 
the  mere  expression  of  a  popular  will,  and  Con 
gress  should  refuse  to  grant  the  prayer  of  the 
memorial,  that  cannot  aifect  their  legality.  The 
right  of  the  people  to  assemble  and  express  their 
political  opinion  in  any  form,  whether  by  means 
of  an  election  or  a  convention,  is  secured  to  them 
by  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  Even 
if  the  elections  are  to  be  regarded  as  the  act  of  a 
party,  whether  political  or  otherwise,  they  were 
proper,  in  accordance  with  examples,  both  in 
States  and  Territories. 

The  elections,  however,  were  preceded  and 
followed  by  acts  of  violence  on  the  part  of  those 
who  opposed  them,  and  those  persons  who  ap 
proved  and  sustained  the  invasion  from  Missouri 
were  peculiarly  hostile  to  these  peaceful  move 
ments  preliminary  to  the  organization  of  a  State 
government.  Instances  of  this  violence  will  be 
referred  to  hereafter. 

To  provide  for  the  election  of  delegates  to 
Congress,  and  at  the  same  time  do  it  in  such  a 
manner  as  to  obtain  the  judgment  of  the  House 
of  Representatives  upon  the  validity  of  the  al 
leged  legislative  assembly  sitting  at  Shawnee 
Mission,  a  convention  was  held  at  Big  Springs 
on  the  5th  and  6th  days  of  September,  1855. 
This  was  a  party  convention,  and  a  party  calling 
itself  the  Free-State  party  was  then  organized. 
It  was  in  no  way  connected  with  the  State  move 
ment,  except  that  the  election  of  a  delegate  to 
Congress  was  fixed  by  it  on  the  same  day  as  the 
election  of  members  of  a  constitutional  conven 
tion,  instead  of  the  day  prescribed  by  the  al 
leged  legislative  assembly.  Andrew  H.  Reeder 
was  put  in  nomination  as  territorial  delegate  to 
Congress,  and  an  election  was  provided  for  un 
der  the  regulations  prescribed  for  the  election  of 
March  30,  1855,  excepting  aa  to  the  appointment 
of  officers,  and  the  persons  to  whom  the  returns 
of  the  elections  should  be  made.  The  election 
was  held  in  accordance  with  these  regulations, 
an  abstract  of  the  returns  of  which  is  contained 
in  the  following  table  : 

ABSTRACT  OF  THE  ELECTION  OF  A.  H. 
REEDER. 


District  .  -- 

VOTING  PLACES. 

? 

1 

I 

557 

Blantou                                             ..   . 

77 

Palmyra 

16 

II 

Bloomingtoii  ....  .  

116 

27 

Ill 


VI 

VII 

VIII 

IX 
X 

XI 
XII 

XIII 

XIV 

XV 

XVI 

XVII 
XVIII 


Brownsville, .  ... 

Topeka 

Tecumaeh 

Big  Springs 

Camp  Creek 

Willow  Springs  — 

Hampden 

Neosno 

Stanton 

Oseawatamie 

Potawatamie 

Big  Sugar  Creek.. 
Little  Sugar  Creek. 

Scott  Town 

Columbia ..... 

Fergnala ..... 

Council  City 

Waubousa 

A.  J.  Baker 

Pawuee ........ 

Big  Blue 

Rock  Creek 

Black  Vermilion. .- 

St.  Mary's 

Silver  Lake 

Pleasant  Hill 

Falls  Precinct 

Hickory  Point 

Burr  Oak 

Doriiphan  .... - 

Palermo 

Ocena- 

Crosby's  Store 

Jackson  Crane's 

L^avenworth 

\Vyandotte 

Delaware . 

Easton 

Ridge  Point 

Wakarusa  ... . 

Mission 

Iowa  Point 


Total. 


24 

131 

£1 

35 

7 

54 
33 
16 
44 
74 
56 
28 
41 
27 
20 
12 
62 
26 
16 
76 
77 
30 
14 
18 
28 
43 
45 
11 
33 
43 
32 
32 


503 
38 
22 
63 
48 
7 

13 
40 

2327 

The  resolutions  passed  by  this  convention  in 
dicate  the  state  of  feeling  which  existed  in  the 
Territory  in  consequence  of  the  invasion  from 
Missouri,  and  the  enactments  of  the  alleged  le 
gislative  assembly.  The  language  of  some  of 
the  resolutions  is  violent,  and  can  only  be  justi 
fied  either  in  consequence  of  the  attempt  to  en 
force  the  grossest  acts  of  tyranny,  or  for  the  pur 
pose  of  guarding  against  a  similar  invasion  in 
future. 

In  the  fall  of  1855,  there  sprang  out  of  the  ex 
isting  discords  and  excitement  in  the  Territory, 
two  secret  Free-State  societies  (265).  They  were 
defensive  in  their  character,  and  were  designed 
to  form  a  protection  to  their  members  against 
unlawful  acts  of  violence  and  assault.  One  of 
the  societies  was  purely  of  a  local  character,  and 
was  confined  to  the  town  of  Lawrence.  Very 
shortly  after  its  organization  it  produced  its  de 
sired  effect,  and  then  went  out  of  use  and  ceased 
to  exist  (266).  Both  societies  were  cumbersome, 
and  of  no  utility  except  to  give  confidence  to  the 
Free-State  men,  and  enable  them  to  know  and 
aid  each  other  in  contemplated  danger.  So  far 
as  the  evidence  shows,  they  led  to  no  act  of  vio 
lence  in  resistance  to  either  real  or  alleged  laws 
(267). 

On  the  21st  day  of  November,  1855,  F.  M. 
Colcman,  a  Pro-Slavery  man,  and  Charles  W. 
Dow,  a  Free-State  man,  had  a  dispute  about  the 
division  line  between  their  respective  claims. 
Several  hours  afterward,  as  Dow  was  passing 
from  a  blacksmith's  shop  toward  his  claim,  and 
by  the  cabin  of  Coleman,  the  latter  shot  Dow 
with  a  double-barreled  gun  loaded  with  plugs. 
Dow  was  unarmed.  He  fell  across  the  road  and 
died  immediately.  This  was  about  1  o'clock 
r.  M.  His  dead  body  was  allowed  to  lie  where 
it  fell  until  after  sundown,  when  it  was  conveyed 
by  Jacob  Branson  to  his  house,  at  which  Dow 

(265)  Pat.  Laughlin,  Francis.  (268;  G.  P.  Lowry,  A. 
II.  Reeder.  (267)  Luwry,  Keeder  and  M.  F.  Conway. 


THE  KANSAS-NEBRASKA  STRUGGLE. 


143 


boarded.  The  testimony  in  regard  to  this  homi 
cide  is  voluminous  (268j,  and  shows  clearly  that 
it  was  a  deliberate  murder  by  Coleman,  and  that 
Harrison  Bulkely  and  a  Mr.  Hargous  were  ac 
cessories  to  it.  The  excitement  caused  by  it  was 
very  great  among  all  classes  of  the  settlers.  On 
the  26th,  a  large  meeting  of  citizens  was  held  at 
the  place  were  the  murder  was  committed,  and 
resolutions  passed  that  Coleman  sshould  be 
brought  to  justice.  In  the  mean  time  Coleman 
had  gone  to  Missouri,  and  then  to  Gov.  Shannon 
at  Shawnce  Mission,  in  Johnson  County.  He 
was  there  taken  into  custody  by  S.  I.  Jones,  then 
acting  as  Sheriff.  No  warrant  was  issued  or 
examination  had.  Ou  the  day  of  the  meeting  at 
Hickory  Point,Harri8on  Bradley  procured  a  peace 
warrant  against  Jacob  Branson,  which  was  placed 
in  the  hands  of  Jones.  That  same  evening, 
after  Branson  had  gone  to  bed,  Jones  came  to 
his  cabin  with  a  party  of  about  25  persons, 
among  whom  were  Hargous  and  Buckley — burst 
open  the  door,  and  saw  Branson  in  bed.  He  then 
drew  his  pistol,  cocked  it,  and  presented  it  to 
Branson's  breast,  and  said,  "  You  are  my  prison 
er,  and  if  you  move  I  will  blow  yqu  through." 
The  others  cocked  their  guns  and  gathered 
round  him,  and  took  him  prisoner.  They  all 
mounted  and  went  to  Buckley's  house.  After  a 
time  they  went  on  a  circuitous  route  towards 
Blanton's  Bridge,  stopping  to  "  drink"  on  the 
way.  As  they  approached  the  bridge,  there 
were  13  in  the  party,  several  having  stopped. 
Jones  rode  up  to  the  prisoner  and,  among  other 
things,  told  him  that  he  had  "  heard  there  were 
100  men  at  your  house  to  day,''  and  "  that  he  re 
gretted  they  were  not  there,  and  that  they  were 
cheated  out  of  their  sport"  (269).  In  the  mean 
time,  the  alarm  had  been  given  in  the  neighbor 
hood  of  Branson's  arrest,  arid  several  of  the  set 
tlers,  among  whom  were  some  who  had  attended 
the  meeting  at  Hickory  Point  that  day,  gathered 
together.  They  were  greatly  excited  ;  the  al 
leged  injustice  of  such  an  arrest  of  a  quiet  set 
tler,  under  a  peace  warrant  by  "  Sheriff  Jones," 
aided  by  two  men  believed  to  be  accessory  to  a 
murder,  and  who  were  allowed  to  be  at  large, 
exasperated  them,  and  they  proceeded  as  rapidly 
as  possible  by  a  nearer  route  than  that  taken  by 
Jones,  and  stopped  near  the  house  of  J.  S.  Ab 
bott,  one  of  them.  They  were  on  foot  as  Jones's 
party  approached  on  a  canter.  The  rescuers 
suddenly  formed  across  the  road  in  front  of  Jones 
and  his  party.  Jones  halted,  and  asked,  "  What's 
up  ?"  The  reply  was,  "  That's  what  we  want  to 
know.  What's  up  ?"  Branson  said,  "  They  have 
got  me  a  prisqner."  Some  one  in  the  rescuing 
party  told  him  to  come  over  to  their  side.  He 
did  so,  and  dismounted,  and  the  mule  he  rode 
was  driven  over  to  Jones's  party ;  Jones  then 
left  (270).  Of  the  persons  engaged  in  this  rescue, 
three  were  from  Lawrence,  and  had  attended 
the  meeting.  Your  Committee  have  deemed  it 
proper  to  detail  the  particulars  of  this  rescue,  as 
it  was  made  the  groundwork  of  what  is  known 
as  the  Wakerusa  War.  On  the  same  night  of 
the  rescue  the  cabins  of  Coleman  and  Buckley 
were  burned,  but  by  whom,  is  left  in  doubt  by 
the  testimony. 

On  the  morning  of  the  rescue  of  Branson, 
Jones  was  at  the  village  of  Franklin,  near  Law 
rence.  The  rescue  was  spoken  of  in  the  presence 
of  Jones,  and  more  conversation  passed  between 
two  others  in  his  presence,  as  to  whether  it  was 
most  proper  to  send  for  assistance  to  Col.  Boone 
in  Missouri,  or  to  Gov.  Shannon.  Jones  wrote  a 
dispatch  and  handed  it  to  a  messenger.  As  soon 
as  he  started,  Jones  said :  "  That  man  is  taking 
my  dispatch  to  Missouri,  and  by  G — d  I'll  have 

(268)  Wm.  and  Nicholas  McKinney,  D.  T.  Jones 
and  wife,  Thomas  Brown,  P.  M.  Coleman  and  others. 
(269)  Jacob  Braneon.  (270)  Jacob  Branson. 


revenge  before  I  see  Missouri."  A  person  pre 
sent,  who  was  examined  as  a  witness  (271),  com 
plained  publicly  that  the  dispatch  was  not  sent 
to  the  governor;  and  within  half  an  hour  one 
was  sent  to  the  governor  by  Jones,  through  Har- 
goue.  Within  a  few  days,  large  numbers  of  men 
from  the  State  of  Missouri  gathered  and  encamp 
ed  on  the  Wakerusa,  They  brought  with  them 
all  the  equipments  of  war.  To  obtain  them,  a 
party  of  men  under  the  direction  of  Judge  T.  V. 
Thompson  broke  into  the  United  States  arsenal 
and  armory  at  Liberty,  Missouri,  and  after  a 
forcible  detention  of  Captain  Leonard  (then  in 
charge)  (272),  they  took  the  cannon,  muskets, 
rifles,  powder,  harness,  and  indeed  all  the  mate 
rials  and  munitions  of  war  they  desired,  some  of 
which  have  never  been  returned  or  accounted 
for. 

The  chief  hostility  of  this  military  foray  was 
against  the  town  of  Lawrence,  and  1his  was 
especially  the  case  with  the  officers  of  the  law. 

Your  Committee  can  see  in  the  testimony  no 
reason,  excuse,  or  palliation  for  Ihis  feeling.  Up 
to  this  time  no  warrant  or  proclamation  of  any 
kind  had  been  in  the  hands  of  any  officer  against 
any  citizen  of  Lawrence  (273).  No  arrest  had 
been  attempted,  and  no  writ  resisted  in  that 
town.  The  rescue  of  Branson  sprang  out  of  a 
murder  committed  thirteen  miles  from  Lawrence, 
in  a  detached  settlement,  and  neither  the  town 
nor  its  citizens  extended  any  protection  to  Bran 
son's  rescuers  (274).  On  the  contrary,  two  or 
three  days  after  the  rescue,  S.  N.  Wood,  who 
claimed  publicly  to  be  one  of  the  rescuing  party, 
wished  to  be  arrested  for  the  purpose  of  testing 
the  territorial  laws,  and  walked  up  to  Sheriff 
Jones  and  shook  hands  with  him,  and  exchanged 
other  courtesies.  lie  could  have  been  arrested 
without  any  difficulty,  and  it  was  his  design, 
when  he  went  to  Mr.  Jones,  to  be  arrested,  but 
no  attempt  was  made  to  do  so  (275). 

It  is  obvious  that  the  only  cause  of  this  hostili 
ty  is  the  known  desire  of  the  citizens  of  Law 
rence  to  make  Kansas  a  Free  State,  ami  their 
repugnance  to  laws  imposed  upon  them  by  non 
residents. 

Your  Committee  do  not  propose  to  detail  the 
incidents  connected  with  this  foray.  Fortu 
nately  for  the  peace  of  the  country,  a  direct  con 
flict  between  the  opposing  forces  was  avoided 
by  an  amicable  arrangement.  The  losses  sus 
tained  by  the  settlers  in  property  taken  and  time 
and  money  expended  in  their  own  defense,  add 
ed  much  to  the  trials  incident  to  a  new  settle 
ment.  Many  persons  were  unlawfully  taken 
and  detained — in  some  cases,  under  circum 
stances  of  gross  cruelty.  This  was  especially  so 
in  the  arrest  and  treatment  of  Dr  G.  A.  Cutter 
and  G.  F.  Warren.  They  were  taken,  without 
cause  or  warrant,  60  miles  from  Lawrence,  and 
when  Dr.  Cutter  was  quite  sick.  They  were 
compelled  to  go  to  the  camp  at  Lawrence,  were 
put  into  the  custody  of  "Sheriff  Jones,"  who 
had  no  process  to  arrest  them — they  were  taken 
into  a  ismall  room  kept  as  a  liquor  shop,  which 
was  open  and  very  cold.  That  night  Jones 
came  in  with  others,  and  went  to  "  playing 
poker  at  twenty-five  cents  ante."  The  prison 
ers  were  obliged  to  sit  up  all  night,  as  there 
was  no  room  to  lie  down,  when  the  men  were 
playing.  Jones  insulted  them  frequently,  and 
told  one  of  them  he  must  either  "  tell  or  swing." 
The  guard  then  objected  to  this  treatment  of 
prisoners,  and  Jones  desisted.  G.  F.  Warren 
thus  describes  their  subsequent  conduct : 

They  then  carried  us  down  to  their  camp; 
Kelly  of  The  Squatter  Sovereign,  who  lives  in 
Atchison,  came  round  and  said  he  thirsted  for 

(271)  L.  A.  Prattier.  (272)  Luther  Leonard.  (273) 
William  Shannon,  Chas.  Robinson.  (274)  G.  P.  Lowiy 
and  Charles  Robinson.  (275)  Chas.  Robinson. 


144 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  SLAVERY  RESTRICTION. 


blood,  and  said  he  should  like  to  hang  us  on  the 
first  tree.  Cufter  was  very  weak,  and  that  ex 
cited  him  so  that  he  became  delirious.  They 
sent  for  three  doctors,  who  came.  Dr.  String- 
fellow  was  one  of  them.  They  remained  there 
•with  Cutter  until  after  midnight,  and  then  took 
him  up  to  the  office,  as  it  was  very  cold  in  camp. 

During  the  foray,  either  George  W.  Clark,  or 
Mr.  Burns,  murdered  Thomas  Barber,  while  the 
latter  was  on  the  highway  on  his  road  from  Law 
rence  to  his  claim.  Both  fired  at  him,  and  it  is 
impossible  from  the  proof  to  tell  whose  shot  was 
fatal.  The  details  of  this  homicide  are  stated 
by  eye-witnesses  (27 6). 

Among  the  many  acts  of  lawless  violence 
which  it  has  been  the  duty  of  your  Committee 
to  investigate,  this  invasion  of  Lawrence  is  the 
most  defenseless.  A  comparison  of  the  facts 
proven,  with  the  official  statements  of  the  offi 
cers  of  the  Government,  will  show  how  ground 
less  were  the  pretexts  which  gave  rise  to  it.  A 
community  in  which  no  crime  had  been  commit 
ted  by  any  of  its  members,  against  none  of  whom 
had  a  warrant  been  issued  or  a  complaint  made, 
who  had  resisted  no  process  in  the  hands  of  a 
real  or  pretended  officer,  was  threatened  with 
destruction  in  the  name  of"  law  and  order,"  and 
that,  too,  by  men  who  marched  from  a  neigh 
boring  State  with  arms  obtained  by  force,  and 
who,  in  every  stage  of  their  progress,  violated 
many  laws,  and  among  others  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States  (277). 

The  chief  guilt  of  it  must  rest  on  Samuel  J. 
Jones.  His  character  is  illustrated  by  his  lan 
guage  at  Lecompton,  where  peace  was  made : 
"  The  said  Maj.  Clark  and  Burns  both  claimed 
the  credit  of  killing  that  d — d  Abolitionist,  and 
he  didn't  know  which  ought  to  have  it.  If 
Shannon  hadn't  been  a  d — d  old  fool,  that  peace 
would  never  have  been  declared.  He  would 
have  wiped  Lawrence  out.  He  had  men  and 
means  enough  to  do  it"  (278). 

Shortly  alter  the  retreat  of  the  forces  from 
before  Lawrence,  the  election  upon  the  adoption 
of  the  State  Constitution  was  held  at  Leaven- 
worth  City,  on  the  15th  of  December,  1855. 
While  it  was  proceeding  quietly,  about  noon, 
Charles  Dunn,  with  a  party  of  others,  smashed 
in  the  window  of  the  building  in  which  the  elec 
tion  was  being  held,  and  then  jumped  into  the 
room  where  the  Judges  of  election  were  sitting, 
and  drove  them  off  (279).  One  of  the  clerks  of 
election  snatched  up  the  ballot-box  and  followed 
the  Judges,  throwing  the  box  behind  the  counter 
of  an  adjoining  room  through  which  he  passed  on 
his  M-ay  out.  As  he  got  to  the  street  door,  Dunn 
caught  him  by  the  throat,  and  pushed  him  up 
against  the  outside  of  the  building,  and  demand 
ed  the  ballot-box  (280). 

Then  Dunn  and  another  person  struck  him  in 
the  face,  and  he  fell  into  the  mud,  the  crowd 
rushed  on  him  and  kicked  him  on  the  head  and 
in  his  sides  (281).  In  this  manner  the  election 
was  broken  up,  Dunn  and  his  party  obtaining 
the  ballot-box  and  carrying  it  off. 

To  avoid  a  similar  outrage  at  the  election  for 
State  officers,  etc.,  to  be  held  on  the  15th  of  Janu 
ary,  1856,  the  election  for  Leavenworth  District 
was  appointed  to  be  held  at  Easton,  and  the 
time  postponed  until  the  17th  day  of  January, 
185G  (282).  On  the  way  to  the  election,  persons 
were  stopped  by  a  party  of  men  at  a  grocery, 
and  their  guns  taken  from  them  (283).  During 
the  afternoon,  parties  came  up  to  the  place  of 

(276)  Robert  T.  Barber,  Thomas  W.  Pierson,  Jane 
W.  Colborn  and  others.  (277)  Article  4  of  the 
Amendments.  (278)  Harrison  Nichols.  (279)  Geo. 
Wetheroll.  George  H.  Keller.  (280)  George  Wether- 
ell.  (281)  George  Wetherell,  George  W  Hallis. 

(282)  J.  (J.  Green,  Henry  J.  Adams,  Joseph   H.   Bird. 

(283)  Stephen  Sparks. 


election  and  threatened  to  destroy  the  ballot-box 
and  were  guilty  of  other  insolent  and  abusive 
conduct  (283).  After  the  polls  were  closed, 
many  of  the  settlers  being  apprehensive  of  an 
attack,  were  armed  in  the  house  where  the  elec 
tion  had  been  held  until  the  next  morning.  Late 
that  night  Stephen  Spark,  with  his  son  and 
nephew,  started  for  home,  his  route  running  by 
the  store  of  a  Mr.  Dawson,  where  a  large  party 
of  armed  men  had  collected.  As  he  approached, 
these  men  demanded  that  he  should  surrender, 
and  gathered  about  him  to  enforce  the  demand 
(284).  Information  was  carried  by  a  man  in  the 
company  of  Mr.  Sparks  to  the  house  where  the 
election  had  been  held.  R.  P.  Brown  and  a  com 
pany  of  men  immediately  went  down  to  relieve 
Mr.  Sparks,  and  did  reb'eve  him  when  he  was  in 
imminent  danger  (285).  Mr.  Sparks  then  started 
back  with  Mr.  Brown  and  his  party,  and  while 
on  their  way  were  fired  upon  by  the  other  party. 
They  returned  the  fire,  and  an  irregular  fight 
then  ensued,  in  which  a  man  by  the  name  of 
Cook,  of  the  Pro-Slavery  party,  received  a  mor 
tal  wound,  and  two  of  the  Free-State  party  were 
slightly  wounded. 

Mr.  Brown,  tvith  seven  others  who  had  accom 
panied  him  from  Leavenworth,  started  on  their 
return  home.  When  they  had  proceeded  a  part 
of  the  way,  they  were  stopped  and  taken  prison 
ers  by  a  party  of  men  called  the  Kickapoo  Ran- 
fers,  under  the  command  of  Capt.  John  W. 
lartin.  They  were  disarmed  and  taken  back  to 
Easton,  and  put  in  Dawson's  store  (286).  Brown 
was  separated  from  the  rest  of  bis  party,  and 
taken  into  the  office  of  E.  S.  Trotter  (287).  By 
this  time  several  of  Martin's  party  and  some  of 
the  citizens  of  the  place  had  become  intoxicated, 
and  expressed  a  determination  to  kill  Brown 
(288).  Capt.  Martin  was  desirous,  and  did  all 
in  his  power  to  save  him.  Several  hours  were 
spent  in  discovering  what  should  be  done  with 
Brown  and  his  party.  In  the  mean  time,  without 
the  knowledge  of  his  party,  Capt.  Martin  liberat 
ed  all  of  Brown's  party  but  himself,  and  aided 
them  in  their  escape  (289).  The  crowd  repeated 
ly  tried  to  get  in  the  room  where  Brown  was, 
and  at  one  time  succeeded,  but  were  put  out  by 
Martin  and  others.  Martin,  finding  that  further 
effort  on  his  part  to  save  Brown  was  useless,  left 
and  went  home.  The  crowd  then  got  possession 
of  Brown,  and  finally  butchered  him  in  cold  blood. 
The  wound  of  which  he  died  was  inflicted  with  a 
hatchet  by  a  man  of  the  name  of  Gibson.  After 
he  had  been  mortally  wounded,  Brown  was  sent 
home  with  Charles  Dunn,  and  died  that  night. 
No  attempt  was  made  to  arrest  or  punish  the 
murderers  of  Brown.  Many  of  tliem  were  well- 
known  citizens,  and  some  of  them  were  officers 
of  the  law.  On  the  next  Grand  Jury  which  sat 
in  Leavenworth  County,  the  Sheriff  summoned 
several  of  the  persons  iuplicated  in  this  murder 
(290).  One  of  them  was  M.  P.  Rively,  at  that 
time  Treasurer  of  the  County.  He  has  been  ex 
amined  as  a  witness  before  us.  The  reason  he 
fives  why  no  indictments  were  found  is,  "  they 
illed  one  of  the  Pro-Slavery  men,  and  the  Pro- 
Slavery  men  killed  one  of  the  others,  and  I 
thought  it  was  about  mutual."  The  same  Grand 
Jury,  however,  found  bills  of  indictment  against 
those  who  acted  as  Judges  of  the  Free-State  elec 
tion.  Rively  says,  "  I  know  our  utmost  endea 
vors  were  made  to  find  out  who  acted  as  Judges 
and  Clerks  on  the  17th  of  January  last,  and  at 
all  the  bogus  elections  held  by  the  Abolitionists 

(284)  Stephen  Sparks.  (285)  George  A.  Taylor, 
Stephen  Sparks,  J.  H.  Bird.  (286)  Henry  J.  Adams, 
George  A.  Taylor.  W.  P.  Kirby,  John  H.  Martin,  Wiley 
Williams.  (287)  Henry  J.  Adams.  J.  W.  Martin.  (288) 
Wiley  Williams,  J.  W  Martin,  H.  J.  Adams.  (289) 
H.  J.  Adams,  G.  A.  Taylor,  J.  H.  Bird,  Wiley  Wil 
liams.  (290)  M.  P.  Rively. 


THE  KANSAS-NEBRASKA  STRUGGLE. 


145 


here.  We  were  very  anxious  to  find  them  out,  as 
we  thought  them  acting  illegally.'1 

Your  Committee,  in  their  examination,  have 
found  that  in  no  case  of  crime  or  homicide,  men 
tioned  in  the  report  or  in  the  testimony,  has  any 
indictment  been  found  against  the  guilty  party, 
except  in  the  homicide  of  Clark  byMcCrea,  Mc- 
Crea  being  a  Free-State  man. 

Your  Committee  did  not  deem  it  within  their 
power  or  duty  to  take  testimony  as  to  events 
which  have  transpired  since  the  date  of  their  ap 
pointment  ;  but  as  some  of  the  events  tended 
seriously  to  embarrass,  hinder  and  delay  their 
investigations,  they  deem  it  proper  here  to  refer 
to  them.  On  their  arrival  in  the  Territory,  the 
people  were  arrayed  in  two  hostile  parties.  The 
hostility  of  them  was  continually  increased  dur 
ing  our  stay  in  the  Territory,  by  the  arrival  of 
armed  bodies  of  men  who,  from  their  equipments, 
came  not  to  follow  the  peaceful  pursuits  of  life, 
but  armed  and  organized  into  companies,  appa 
rently  for  war — by  the  unlawful  detention  of  per 
sons  and  property  while  passing  through  the 
State  of  Missouri,  and  by  frequent  forcible 
seizures  of  persons  and  property  in  the  Territory 
without  legal  warrant.  Your  Committee  regret 
that  they  were  compelled  to  witness  instances  of 
each  of  these  classes  of  outrages.  While  holding 
their  session  at  Westport,  Mo.,  at  the  request  of 
the  sitting  Delegate,  they  saw  several  bodies  of 
armed  men,  confessedly  citizens  of  Missouri, 
march  into  the  Territory  on  forays  against  its 
citizens,  but  under  the  pretense  of  enforcing  the 
(enactments  before  referred  to.  The  wagons  of 
emigrants  were  stopped  in  the  highways,  and 
searched  without  claim  or  legal  powers,  and  in 
some  instances  all  their  property  taken  from 
them.  In  Leaven  worth  City,  leading  citizens 
were  arrested  at  noonday  in  our  presence,  by  an 
armed  force,  without  any  claim  of  authority,  ex 
cept  that  derived  from  a  self-constituted  Com 
mittee  of  Vigilance,  many  of  whom  were  Legis 
lative  and  Executive  officers.  Some  were  re 
leased  on  promising  to  leave  the  Territory,  and 
others,  after  being  detained  for  a  time,  were  form 
ally  notified  to  leave,  under  the  severest  penal 
ties.  The  only  otfense  charged  against  them  was 
their  political  opinions,  and  no  one  was  thus  ar 
rested  for  alleged  crime  of  any  grade.  There  was 
no  resistance  to  these  lawless  acts  by  the  settlers, 
because,  in  their  opinion,  the  persons  engaged  in 
them  would  be  sustained  and  reinforced  by  the 
citizens  of  the  populous  border  counties  of  Mis 
souri,  from  whence  they  were  only  separated  by 
the  river.  In  one  case  witnessed  by  your  Com 
mittee,  an  application  for  the  writ  of  habeas  cor- 
eas  was  prevented  by  the  urgent  solicitation  of 
ro-Slavery  men,  who  insisted  that  it.  would  en 
danger  the  life  of  the  prisoner  to  be  discharged 
under  legal  process. 

While  we  remained  in  the  Territory,  repeat 
ed  acts  of  outrage  were  committed  upon  the 
quiet,  unoffending  citizens,  of  which  we  received 
authentic  intelligence.  Men  were  attacked  on 
the  highway,  robbed,  and  subsequently  im 
prisoned.  Men  were  seized  and  searched,  and 
their  weapons  of  defense  taken  from  them  with 
out  compensation.  Horses  were  frequently  taken 
and  appropriated.  Oxen  were  taken  from  the 
yoke  while  plowing,  and  butchered  in  the  pres 
ence  of  their  owners.  One  young  man  was  seized 
in  the  streets  of  the  town  of  Atchison,  and 
under  circumstances  of  gross  barbarity  was 
tarred  and  cottened,  and  in  that  condition  was 
sent  to  his  family.  All  the  provisions  of  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States,  securing  per 
sons  and  property,  are  utterly  disregarded. 
The  officers  of  the  law,  instead  of  protecting 
the  people,  were  in  some  instances  engaged  in 
these  outrages,  and  in  no  instance  did  we  learn 
that  any  man  was  arrested,  indicted  or  puu- 
10 


ished  for  any  of  these  crimes.  While  such 
offenses  were  committed  with  impunity  (he  laws 
were  used  as  a  means  of  indicting  men  for  hold 
ing  elections,  preliminary  to  framing  a  conwtitu- 
tion  and  applying  for  admission  into  1  ho  Union 
as  the  State  of  Kansas.  Charges  of  high  treason 
were  made  against  prominent  citizens  upon 
grounds  which  seem  to  your  Committee  absurd 
and  ridiculous,  and  under  these  charges  they  are 
now  held  in  custody  and  are  refused  the  privi 
lege  of  bail.  In  several  cases  men  were  arrested 
in  th«  State  of  Missouri  while  passing  on  their 
lawful  business  through  that  State,  and  detained 
until  indictments  could  be  found  in  the  Terri 
tory. 

These  proceedings  were  followed  by  an  offense 
of  still  greater  magnitude.  Under  color  of 
legal  process,  a  company  of  about  700  armed 
men,  the  great  body  of  whom  your  Commit 
tee  are  satisfied  were  not  citizens  of  the.  Territory, 
marched  into  the  town  of  Lawrence  under  Mar 
shal  Donaldson  and  S.  J.  Jones,  officers  claim 
ing  to  act  under  the  law,  and  bombarded  and 
then  burned  to  the  ground  a  valuable  hotel  and 
one  private  house;  destroyed  two  printing- 

Eresses  and  material  ;  and  then,  being  released 
y  the  officers,  whose  posse  they  claim  to  be, 
proceeded  to  sack,  pillage,  and  rob  houses,  stores, 
trunks,  etc.,  even  to  the  clothing  of  women  and 
children.  Some  of  the  letters  thus  unlawfully 
taken  were  private  ones,  written  by  the  contest 
ing  Delegate,  and  they  were  offered  in  evidence. 
Your  Committee  did  not  deem  that  the  persona 
holding  them  had  any  right  thus  to  use  them, 
and  refused  to  be  made  the  instruments  to  report 
private  letters  thus  obtained. 

This  force  was  not  resisted,  because  it  was  col 
lected  and  marshaled  under  the  forms  of  law. 
But  this  act  of  barbarity,  unexampled  in  the 
history  of  our  Government,  was  followed  by  its 
natural  consequences.  All  the  restraints  which 
American  citizens  are  accustomed  to  pay  even 
to  the  appearance  of  law,  were  thrown  off;  one 
act  of  violence  led  to  another  ;  homicides  became 
frequent.  A  party  under  H.  C.  Pate,  composed 
chiefly  of  citizens  of  Missouri,  were  taken  prison 
ers  by  a  party  of  settlers  ;  and  while  your  Com 
mittee  were  at  Westport,  a  company  chiefly  of 
Missourians,  accompanied  by  the  acting  Dele 
gate,  went  to  relieve  Pate  and  his  party,  and  a 
collision  was  prevented  by  the  United  States 
troops.  Civil  war  has  seemed  impending  in  the 
Territory.  Nothing  can  prevent  so  great  a  ca 
lamity  but  the  presence  of  a  large  force  of  United 
States  troops,  under  a  commander  who  will  with 
prudence  and  discretion  quiet  the  excited  pas 
sions  of  both  parties,  and  expel  with  force  the 
armed  bauds  of  lawless  men  coming  from  Mis 
souri  and  elsewhere,  who  with  criminal  pertinaci 
ty  infest  that  Territory. 

In  some  cases,  and  as  to  one  entire  election-dis 
trict,  the  condition  of  the  country  prevented  the 
attendance  of  witnesses,  who  were  either  arrested 
or  detained  while  obeying  our  process,  or  deter 
red  from  so  doing.  The  Sergeant-at  Arms  who 
served  the  processes  upon  them  was  himself  ar 
rested  and  detained  for  a  short  time  by  an  armed 
force,  claiming  to  be  a  part  of  the  posse  of  the 
Marshal,  but  was  allowed  to  proceed  upon  an 
examination  of  his  papers,  and  was  furnished 
with  a  pass,  signed  by  "  Warren  D.  Wilkes  of 
South  Carolina."  John  Upton,  another  officer 
of  the  Committee,  was  subsequently  stopped  by 
a  lawless  force  on  the  borders  of  the  Territory, 
and  after  being  detained  and  treated  with  great 
indignity  was  released.  He  also  was  furnished 
with  a  pass  signed  by  two  citizens  of  Missouri, 
and  addressed  to  "  Pro-Slavery  men."  By  reason 
of  these  disturbances  we  were  delayed  in  West- 
port,  so  that  while  in  session  there,  our  time  was 
but  partially  occupied. 


146 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  SLAVERY   RESTRICTION. 


But  the  obstruction  which  created  the  most 
serious  embarrassment  to  your  Committee  was 
the  attempted  arrest  of  Gov.  Reeder,  the  contest 
ing  Delegate,  upon  a  writ  of  attachment  issued 
against  him  by  Judge  Lecompte  to  compel  his 
attendance  as  a  witness  bofore  the  Grand  Jury  of 
Douglas  County.  William  Fane,  recently  from  the 
State  of  Georgia,  and  claiming  to  be  the  Deputy 
Marshal,  came  into  the  room  of  the  Committee 
while  Gov.  lleeder  was  examining  a  witness  be 
fore  iis,  and  producing  the  writ  required  Gov- 
Reeder  to  attend  him.  Subsequent  events  have 
only  strengthened  the  conviction  of  your  Com 
mittee  that  this  was  a  wanton  and  unlawful  in 
terference  by  the  Judge  who  issued  the  writ,  tend 
ing  greatly  to  obstruct  a  full  and  fair  investiga 
tion.  Gov.  Reeder  and  Gen.  Whitfield  alone 
were  fully  possessed  of  that  local  information 
which  would  enable  us  to  elicit  the  whole  truth, 
and  it  was  obvious  to  every  one  that  any  event 
which  would  separate  either  of  them  from  the 
Committee  would  necessarily  hinder,  delay,  and 
embarrass  it.  Gov.  Reeder  claimed  that,  under 
the  circumstances  in  which  he  was  placed,  he 
was  privileged  from  arrest  except  for  treason, 
felony,  or  breach  of  the  peace.  As  this  was  a 
question  of  privilege,  proper  for  the  Courts,  or 
for  the  privileged  person  alone  to  determine  on 
his  peril,  we  declined  to  give  him  any  protection 
or  take  any  action  in  the  matter.  He  refused  to 
obey  the  writ,  believing  it  to  be  a  mere  pretense 
to  get  the  custody  of  his  person,  and  fearing,  as 
he  alleged,  that  he  would  be  assassinated  by 
lawless  bands  of  men  then  gathering  in  and  ueaV 
Lecompton.  He  then  left  the  Territory. 

Subsequently  H.  Miles  Moore,  an  attorney  in 
Leavenworth  City,  but  for  several  years  a  citi 
zen  of  Weston,  Mo.,  kindly  furnished  the  Com 
mittee  information  as  to  the  residence  of  persons 
voting  at  the  elections,  and  in  some  cases  ex 
amined  witnesses  before  us.  He  was  arrested  on 
the  streets  of  that  town  by  an  armed  band  of 
about  thirty  men,  headed  by  W.  D.  Wilkes, 
without  any  color  of  authority,  confined,  with 
other  citizens,  under  a  military  guard  for  twenty- 
four  hours,  and  then  notified  to  leave  the  Terri 
tory.  His  testimony  was  regarded  as  important, 
and  upon  his  sworn  statement  that  it  would  en 
danger  his  person  to  give  it  openly,  the  majority 
of  your  Committee  deem  it  proper  to  examine  him 
ex  parte  and  did  so. 

By  reason  of  these  occurrences,  the  contestant, 
and  the  party  with  and  for  whom  he  acted,  were 
unrepresented  before  us  during  a  greater  portion 
of  the  time,  and  your  Committee  were  required 
to  ascertain  the  truth  in  the  best  manner  they 
could. 

Your  Committee  report  the  following  facts 
and  conclusions  as  established  by  the  testimony  : 

Firxt :  That  each  election  in  the  Territory, 
held  under  the  organic  or  alleged  Territorial  law, 
has  been  carried  by  organized  invasions  from 
the  State  of  Missouri,  by  which  the  people  of  the 
Territory  have  been  prevented  from  exercising 
the  rights  secured  to  them  by  the  organic  law. 

Second  :  That  the  alleged  Territorial  Legisla 
ture  was  an  illegally-constituted  body,  and  had 
no  powerto  pass  valid  laws,  and  their  enactments 
are,  therefore,  null  and  void. 

Third :  That  these  alleged  laws  have  not,  as 
a  general  thing,  been  used  to  protect  persons  and 
property  and  to  punish  wrong,  but  for  unlawful 
purposes. 

Fourth:  That  the  election  under  which  the 
Bitting  Delegate,  John  W.  Whitefield,  holds  his 
seat,  was  not  held  in  pursuance  of  any  valid  law, 
and  that  it  should  be  regarded  only  as  the  ex 
pression  of  the  choice  of  those  resident  citizens 
who  voted  for  him. 

Fifth,:  That  the  election  under  which  the  con 
testing  Delegate,  Andrew  H.  Reeder,  claims  his 


seat,  was  not  held  in  pursuance  of  law,  and  that 
it  should  be  regarded  only  as  the  expression  of 
the  choice  of  the  resident  citizens  who  voted  for 
him. 

Sixth .-  That  Andrew  H.  Reeder  received  a 
greater  number  of  votes  of  resident  citizens  than 
John  W.  Whitfield,  for  Delegate. 

Seventh  :  That  in  the  present  condition  of  the 
Territory  a  fair  election  cannot  be  held  without 
a  new  census,  a  stringent  and  well-guarded 
election  law,  the  selection  of  impartial  Judges, 
and  the  presence  of  United  States  troops  at  every 
place  of  election. 

Eighth :  That  the  various  elections  held  by 
the  people  of  the  Territory  preliminary  to  the 
formation  of  the  State  Government  have  been  as 
regular  as  the  disturbed  condition  of  the  Terri 
tory  would  allow;  and  that  the  Constitution 
passed  by  the  Convention,  held  in  pursuance  of 
said  elections,  embodies  the  will  of  a  majority  of 
the  people. 

As  it  is  not  the  province  of  your  Committee 
to  suggest  remedies  for  the  existing  troubles  in 
the  Territory  of  Kansas,  they  content  themselves 
with  the  foregoing  statement  of  facts. 

All  of  which  is  respectfully  submitted. 

WM.  A.  HOWARD, 
JOHN  SHERMAN. 


The  Free-State  Constitution  framed  at 
Topeka  for  Kansas,  by  the  Convention  called 
by  the  Free-State  party,  (as  set  forth  in  the 
foregoing  documents,)  was  in  due  season  sub 
mitted  to  Congress — Messrs.  Andrew  H. 
Reeder  (the  Free-State  Territorial  delegate) 
and  James  H.  Lane  having  been  chosen  by 
the  first  Free-State  Legislature  Senators  of 
the  United  States,  and  Mr.  M.  W.  Delahay 
elected  Representative  in  the  House,  by  the 
Free-State  men  of  Kansas.  Of  course,  these 
were  not  entitled  to  their  seats  until  the 
aforesaid  instrument  (known  as  "  the  Topeka 
Constitution")  should  be  accepted  by  Con 
gress,  and  the  State  thereupon  admitted  into 
the  Union.  This  Constitution,  being  form 
ally  presented  in  either  House,  was  received 
and  referred  to  their  respective  Committees 
on  Territories ;  but  the  accompanying  Me 
morial  from  the  Free-State  Legislature,  set 
ting  forth  the  grounds  of  the  application, 
and  praying  for  admission  as  a  State,  was, 
after  having  been  received  by  the  Senate, 
reconsidered,  rejected,  and  returned  to  Col. 
Lane,  on  the  allegation  that  material  changes 
had  been  made  in  it  since  it  left  Kansas. 
The  Senate,  in  like  manner,  rejected  repeated 
motions  to  accept  the  Constitution,  and 
thereupon  admit  Kansas  as  a  Free  State — 
there  never  being  more  than  Messrs.  Hamlin 
and  Fessenden  of  Maine,  Hale  and  Bell  of 
New-Hampshire,  Collamer  and  Foot  of  Ver 
mont,  Sumner  and  Wilson  of  Mass.,  Foster 
of  Connecticut,  Seward  and  Fish  of  New 
York,  Wade  of  Ohio,  Durkee  and  Dodge  of 
Wisconsin,  Trumbull  of  Illinois,  and  Harlan 
of  Iowa,  (16)  Senators  in  favor  of  such  ad 
mission,  and  these  never  all  present  at  the 
same  time. 

In  the  House — the  aforesaid  Constitution 
and  Memorial  having  been  submitted  to  the 


THE  KANSAS-NEBRASKA  STRUGGLE. 


147 


Committee  on  Territories,  its  Chairman, 
Mr.  Grow  of  Penna.,  from  a  majority  of  said 
Committee,  reported  in  favor  of  the  admis 
sion  of  Kansas  under  such  Constitution,  as 
a  Free  State  ;  and  after  debate  the  Previous 
Question  thereon  was  ordered  (June  28th) 
by  a  vote  of  98  Ayes  to  63  Noes.  Previous 
to  this,  however,  Mr.  Stephens  of  Georgia 
had  proposed,  as  an  amendment  or  substitute, 
a  radically  different  bill,  contemplating  the 
appointment  by  the  President  and  Senate  of 
five  Commissioners,  who  should  repair  to 
Kansas,  take  a  census  of  the  inhabitants  and 
legal  voters,  and  thereupon  proceed  to  ap 
portion,  during  the  mouth  of  September, 
1856,  the  delegates  (52)  to  form  a  constitu 
tional  convention,  to  be  elected  by  the  legal 
voters  aforesaid  ;  said  delegates  to  be  chosen 
on  the  day  of  the  Presidential  election  (Tues 
day,  Nov.  4th,  1856),  and  to  assemble  in 
convention  on  the  first  Monday  in  December, 
1856,  to  form  a  State  Constitution.  The 
bill  proposed,  also,  penalties  for  illegal  voting 
at  said  election. 

To  this  substitute-bill,  Mr.  Dunn  of  In 
diana  proposed  the  following  amendment,  to 
come  in  at  the  end  as  an  additional  section  : 
SEC.  18.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  so 
much  of  the  fourteenth  section  and  of  the  thirty- 
second  section  of  the  act  passed  at  the  first  ses 
sion  of  the  Thirty-Third  Congress,  commonly 
called  the  Kansas  and  Nebraska  act,  as  reads 
as  follows  :  "  Except  the  eighth  section  of  the  act 
preparatory  to  the  admission  of  Missouri  into  the 
Union,  approved  March  6,  1820,  which,  being 
inconsistent  with  the  principle  of  non-interven 
tion  by  Congress  with  slavery  in  the  States  and 
Territories,  as  recognized  by  the  legislation  of 
1850,  commonly  called  the  compromise  measures, 
is  hereby  declared  inoperative  and  void ;  it 
being  the  true  intent  and  meaning  of  this  act 
not  to  legislate  slavery  into  any  State  or  Terri 
tory,  or  to  exclude  it  therefrom,  but  to  leave  the 
people  thereof  perfectly  free  to  form  and  regulate 
their  domestic  institutions  in  their  own  way,  sub 
ject  only  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  :  Provided,  That  nothing  herein  contained 
shall  be  construed  to  revive  or  put  in  force  any 
law  or  regulation  which  may  have  existed  prior 
to  the  act  of  6th  March,  1820,  either  protecting, 
establishing,  prohibiting,  or  abolishing  slavery,' 
be,  and  the  same  is  thereby,  repealed,  provided 
that  any  person  or  persons  lawfully  held  to 
service  within  either  of  the  Territories  named  in 
said  act  shall  be  discharged  from  such  service 
if  they  shall  not  be  removed  and  kept  out  of  saic 
Territories  within  twelve  mouths  from  the  pas 
sage  of  this  act. 

Mr.  Dunn's  amendment  to  the  Stephens 
amendment  or  substitute,  was  carried  :  Yeas 
109  ;  Nays  102— as  follows  : 

YEAS— Messrs.  Albright,  Allison,  Ball,  Bar 
"bour,  Henry  Bennett,  Benson,  Billinghurst 
Bingham,  Bishop,  Bliss,  Bradshaw,  Brenton 
Broom,  Buftinton,  Burlingamc,  James  H.  Camp 
bell,  Lewis  D.  Campbell,  Bayard  Clarke,  Ezra 
Clark,  Clawson,Colfax,  Comius,  Covode,Cragin 
Cumback,  Damrell,  Timothy  Davis,  Dean,  D( 
Witt,  Dick,  Dickson,  Dodd,  Dunn,  Durfee 
Edie,  Edwards,  Emrie,  Flagler,  Galloway,  Gid 
dings,  Gilbert,  Granger,  Grow,  Robert  B.  Hall 
Harlan,  Harrison,  Haven,  Holloway,  Thomas  R 
Horton,  Valentine  B.  Horton,  Howard,  Hugh 


ton,  Kelsey,  King,  Knapp,  Knight,  Knowlton, 
inox,  Kunkel,  Letter,  Mace,  Matteson,  Mc- 
}arty,  Meaeham,  Killian  Miller,  Millward, 
^loore,  Morgan,  Morrill,  Murray,  Andrew  Oliver, 
.'arkcr,  Pearce,  Pelton,  Pennington,  Perry, 
?ettit,  Pike,  Pringle,  Purviance,  Robbins, 
loberts,  Robison,  Sabin,  Sage,  Sapp,  Scott, 
Sherman,  Simmons,  Stanton,  Stranahan,  Tap- 
mn,  Thorington,  Thurston,  Todd,  Trafton, 
Wade,  Wakeman,  Walbridge,  Waldron,  Cad- 
rvalader  C.  Washburne,  Elihu  B.  Washburne, 
Israel  Washburn,  Watson,  Welch,  Whitney, 
Wood,  Woodruff,  and  Woodworth— 109. 

NAYS— Messrs.  Aiken,  Allen,  Barclay,  Barks- 
dale,  Bell,  Hendley  S.  Bennett,  Bocock,  Bowie, 
Boyce,  Branch,  Brooks,  Burnett,  Cadwalader, 
John  P.  Campbell,  Carlile,  Caruthers,  Caskie, 
Clingman,  Howell  Cobb,  Williamson  R.  W. 
CobD,  Cox,  Craige,  Crawford,  Davidson,  Day, 
Denver,  Dowdell,  Edmundson,  Elliot,  English, 
Eustis,  Faulkner,  Florence,  Foster,  Thomas  J. 
D.  Fuller,  Goode,  Greenwood,  Augustus  Hall, 
J.  Morrison  Harris,  Sampson  W.  Harris,  Hick- 
man,  Hoffman,  Houston,  Jewett,  George  W. 
Jones,  J.  Glancy  Jones,  Keitt,  Kelly,  Keunett, 
Kidwell,  Lake,  Letcher,  Lumpkin,  Alexander 
K.  Marshall,  Humphrey  Marshall,  Maxwell,  Mc- 
Mullin,  McQueen,  Smith  Miller,  Millson,  Nichols, 
Mordecai  Oliver,  Orr,  Packer,  Paine,  Peck, 
Phelps,  Porter,  Powell,  Puryear,  Quitman, 
Ready,  Ricaud,  Richardson,  Rivers,  Ruffin, 
Rust,  Sandidge,  Savage,  Seward,  Shorter,  Samuel 

A.  Smith,   William  Smith,   William   R.  Smith, 
Sneed,  Spinner,  Stephens,  Stewart,  Swope,  Tal- 
bott,  Taylor,  Trippe,  Underwood,  Valk,  Walker, 
Warner,  Watkius,  Wheeler,  Williams,  Daniel 

B.  Wright,  John  V.  Wright,  and  Zollicoffer— 
102. 

Mr.  Stephens's  substitute,  as  thus  amend 
ed  by  its  adversaries,  was  abandoned  by  its 
original  friends,  and  received  but  two  votes 
— those  of  Messrs.  Geo.  G.  Dunn  of  Indiana 
and  John  Scott  Harrison  of  Ohio — Nays 
210. 

Mr.  Dunn  had  previously  moved  a  refer 
ence  of  the  bill  to  the  Committee  of  the 
Whole  on  the  state  of  the  Union.  This  was 
now  defeated  :  Yeas  101 ;  Nays  109. 

Mr.  Jones  of  Tenn.  now  moved  that  the 
bill  do  lie  on  the  table,  which  was  defeated  : 
Yeas  106  ;  Nays  107  (Barclay  of  Penn., 
Dunn  of  Ind.,  Haven  and  Williams  of  N.  Y. 
—  Yeas ;  Bayard  Clarke  of  New-York,  Hick- 
man  and  Millward  of  Pa..  Moore  of  Ohio, 
and  Scott  of  Ind. — Nays  ;  Scott  Harrison 
of  Ohio  not  voting,  Wells  of  Wise,  absent). 
The  House  now  refused  to  adjourn  by  106 
to  102  ;  and,  after  a  long  struggle,  the  final 
question  was  reached,  and  the  bill  rejected : 
Yeas,  106  ;  Nays  107— as  follows  : 

YEAS— Messrs.  Albright,  Allison,  Ball,  Bar- 
bour,  Henry  Bennett,  Benson,  Billinghurst, 
Bingham,  Bishop,  Bliss,  Bradshaw,  Brenton, 
Buffinton,  Burlingame,  J.  H.  Campbell,  Lewis 
D.  Campbell,  Bayard  Clarke,  Ezra  Clark,  Claw- 
son,  Colfax,  Comins,  Covode,  Cragin,  Cumback, 
Damrell,  Timothy  Davis,  Day,  Dean,  De  Witt, 
Dick,  Dickson,  Dodd,  Durfee,  Edie,  Edwards, 
Emrie,  Flagler,  Galloway,  Giddings,  Gilbert, 
Granger,  Grow,  Robert  B.  Hall,  Harlan,  Hick- 
man,  Holloway,  Thomas  R.  Horton,  Valentine 
B.  Horton,  Howard,  Hughston,  Kelsey,  King^ 
Knapp,  Knight,  Knowlton,  Knox,  Kunkel,  Lei 
ter,  Matteson,  McCarty,  Meaeham,  Killian  Mil 
ler,  Millward,  Moore,  Morgan,  Morrill,  Murray, 


148 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR   SLAVERY  RESTRICTION. 


Nichols,  Andrew  Oliver.  Parker,  Pearee,  Pelton, 
Pennington,  Perry,  Pettit,  Pike,  Parvianoe, 
Bobbins,  Roberts,  Robisou,  Sabin,  Sage.  Sapp, 
Scott,  Sherman,  Simmons,  Spinner,  Stanton, 
Stranahan,Tappan,  Thorington,  Thurston,  Todd, 
Traftou,Wade,  VVakeman,  Walbridge,  Waldron, 
Cadvvatader  C.  Washburne,  Elihu  B.  Wash- 
burne,  Israel  Washburn,  Watson,  Welch,  Wood, 
Woodruff,  and  Woodworth — 106. 

NAYS — Messrs.  Aiken,  Allen,  Barclay,  Barks- 
dale,  Bell,  Heudley  S.  Bennet,  Bocock,  Bowie, 
Boyce,  Branch,  Brooks,  Broom,  Burnett,  Cad 
walader,  John  P.  Campbell,  Carlile,  Caruthers, 
Caskie,  Howell  Cobb,  Williamson  K.  W.  Cobb, 
Cox,  Craige,  Crawford,  Cullen,  Davidson,  Den 
ver,  Dowdell,  Dunn,  Edmundson,  Elliot,  Eng 
lish,  Etheridge,  Eustis,  Evans,  Faulkner,  Flor 
ence,  Foster,  Thomas  J.  D.  Fuller,  Goode,  Green 
wood,  Augustus  Hall,  J.  Morrison  Harris,  Samp 
son  W.  Harris,  Harrison,  Haven,  Herbert,  Hoff 
man,  Houston,  Jewett,  George  W.  Jones,  J. 
Glancy  Jones,  Keitt,  Kelly,  Kenuett,  Kidwell, 
Lake,  Letcher,  Lindley,  Lumpkin,  Alexander  K. 
Marshall,  Humphrey  Marshall,  Samuel  S.  Mar 
shall,  Maxwell,  McMullin,  McQueen,  Smith  Mil 
ler,  Millson,  Mordecai  Oliver,  Orr,  Packer, 
Paine,  Peck,  Phelps,  Porter,  Powell,  Puryear, 
Quitman,  Ready,  Ricaud,  Rivers,  Ruffin,  Rust, 
Sandidge,  Savage,  Seward,  Shorter,  Samuel  A. 
Smith,  William  Smith,  William  R.  Smith,  Sneed, 
Stephens,  Stewart,  Swope.Talbott,  Taylor,Trippe, 
Underwood,  Valk,  Walker,  Warner,  Watkins, 
Wheeler,  Whitney,  Williams,  Daniel  B.  Wright, 
John  V.  Wright,  and  Zollicoffer— 107. 

So  the  bill  was  lost. 

Mr.  Goode  of  Virginia  now  sought  to 
move  a  reconsideration,  and  to  have  that 
motion  laid  on  the  table  ;  but  was  cut  off  by 
a  motion  to  adjourn  already  pending,  which 
prevailed. 

July  1st. — Mr.  Barclay  (Dem.)  of  Pa.  rose 
to  a  privileged  motion.  He  moved  a  recon 
sideration  of  the  preceding  vote,  by  which 
the  Free-Kansas  bill  had  been  rejected.  A 
stormy  debate  ensued,  in  the  midst  of  which 
Mr.  Howard  of  Mich,  rose  to  a  question  of 
higher  privilege  (as  affecting  the  right  of  a 
member  [delegate]  to  his  seat)  and  submitted 
the  Report  of  the  Kansas  Investigating 
Committee  (already  given).  The  Speaker 
sustained  the  motion,  and  the  House  sus 
tained  the  Speaker.  The  Keport  was  there 
upon  presented  and  read,  consuming  a  full 
day. 

July  3rd. — The  question  of  reconsidering 
the  vote  defeating  the  Free-Kansas  bill  was 
again  reached.  Mr.  Houston  of  Ala.  moved 
that  it  do  lie  on  the  table  :  Defeated  :  Yeas 
97  ;  Nays  102.  The  main  question  was  then 
ordered  :  Yeas  101  ;  Nays  98  ;  and  the  re 
consideration  carried  :  Yeas  101  ;  Nays  99. 
The  previous  question  on  the  passage  of  the 
bill  was  now  ordered  :  Yeas  99  ;  Nays  96  ; 
a  motion  by  Mr.  McQueen  of  S.C.  to  lay  the 
bill  on  the  table  was  defeated  :  Yeas  97  ; 
Nays  100  ;  and  then  the  bill  was  finally 
passed  :  Yeas  99  ;  Nays  97,  as  follows  : 

YEAS— Messrs.  Albright,  Allison,  Ball,  Bar- 
hour,  Barclay,  Henry  Bennett,  Benson,  Billing- 
hurst,  Bingham,  Bliss,  Bradshaw,  Brenton,  Buffi  n- 
ton,  James  H.  Campbell,  Lewis  D.  Campbell, 
Bayard  Clarke,  Ezra  Clark,  Clawson,  Coltax, 


Comins,  Covode,  Cragin,  Cumback,  Damrell, 
Timothy  Davis,  Day,  Dean,  De  Witt,  Dick, 
Dickson,  Dodd,  Durfee,  Edie,  Edwards,  Einrie, 
Flagler,  Galloway,  Giddiugs,  Gilbert,  Granger, 
Grow,  Robert  B.  Hall,  Harlan,  Hickman,  Hollo- 
way,  Thomas  R.  Horton,  Valentine  B.  Horton, 
Howard,  Hughston,  Kelsey,  King,  Knapp, 
Knight,  Knowlton,  Knox,  Kuukel,  Leiter,  Matte- 
son, McCarty,Meacham,  Killian  Miller,  Mill  ward, 
Morgan,  Morrill,  Mott,  Murray,  Nichols.  Andrew 
Oliver,  Parker,  Pearee,  Pelton,  Perry,  Pike, 
Priugle,  Purviance,  Robbing,  Roberts,  Robison, 
Sabin,  Sage,  Sapp,  Scott,  Sherman,  Spinner, 
Strauahan,  Tappan,  Thorington, Thurston,  Todd, 
Trafton,  Wade,  Wakeman,  Walbridge,  Waldron, 
Cadwalader  C.  Washburne,  Elihu  B.  Wash 
burne,  Israel  Washburn,  Welch,  Woodruff,  and 
Woodworth— 99. 

NAYS— Messrs.  Aiken,  Allen,  Barksdale,  Bell, 
Hendley  S.  Bennett,  Bocock,  Bowie,  Branch, 
Brooks,  Broom,  Burnett,  Cadwalader,  Carnthers, 
Caskie,  Clingman,  Howell  Cobb,  Williamson  R. 
W.  Cobb,  Cox,  Craige,  Crawford,  Culleu,  Henry 
Winter  Davis,  Denver,  Dowdell,  Dunn,  Ea- 
mundson,  English,  Etheridge,  Eustis,  Evans, 
Faulkner,  Florence,  Henry  M.  Fuller,  Thos.  J 
D.  Fuller,  Goode,  Greenwood,  Augustus  Hall,  J 
Morrison  Harris,  Sampson  W.  Harris,  Thomas 
L.  Harris,  Harrison,  Haven,  Houston,  Jewett, 
George  W.  Jones,  J.  Glancy  Jones,  Kelly,  Ken- 
nett,  Kidwell,  Lake,  Lindley,  Lumpkin,  Alex 
ander  K.  Marshall,  Humphrey  Marshall,  Sa 
muel  S.  Marshall,  McMullin,  McQueen,  Smith 
Miller,  Milson,  Mordecai  Oliver,  Orr,  Packer, 
Peck,  Phelps,  Porter,  Powell,  Puryear,  Ready, 
Ricaud,  Rivers,  Ruffin.  Rust,  Sandidge,  Savage, 
Seward,  Shorter,  Samuel  A.  Smith,  William 
Smith,  William  R.  Smith,  Sneed,  Stephens,  Stew 
art,  Swope,  Taylor,  Trippe,  Underwood,  Valk, 
Walker,  Warner,  Watkins,  Wheeler,  Whitney, 
Williams,  Winslow,  Daniel  B.  Wright,  John  V 
Wright,  and  Zollicoffer— 97. 

Mr.  Grow  of  Pa.  moved  the  reconsidera 
tion  of  this  vote,  and  that  the  motion  to  re 
consider  do  lie  on  the  table,  which  was  per 
mitted,  without  further  division. 

The  following  is  the  Free-Kansas  or 
Topeka  Constitution  aforesaid : 

CONSTITUTION 
OF  THE  STATE  OF  KANSAS. 

PREAMBLE : 

WE,  the  People  of  the  Territory  of  Kansas,  by 
our  delegates  in  Convention  assembled  at  Tope 
ka,  on  the  23d  day  of  October,  A.  D.  1855,  and 
of  the  Independence  of  the  United  States  the 
eightieth  year,  having  the  right  of  admission  into 
the  Union  as  one  of  the  United  States  of  America, 
consistent  with  the  Federal  Constitution  and  by 
virtue  of  the  treaty  of  cession  by  France  to  the 
United  States  of  the  Province  of  Louisiana,  in 
order  to  secure  to  ourselves  and  our  posterity 
the  enjoyment  of  all  the  rights  of  life,  liberty  and 
property,  and  the  free  pursuit  of  happiness,  do 
mutually  agree  with  each  other  to  form  ourselves 
into  a  free  and  independent  State,  by  the  name 
and  style  of  the  STATE  OF  KANSAS,  bounded  as 
follows,  to  wit:  Beginning  at  a  point  on  tho 
western  boundary  of  the  State  of  Missouri  where 
the  thirty-seventh  parallel  of  north  latitude 
crosses  the  same  ;  thence  west  on  said  parallel 
to  the  eastern  boundary  of  New-Mexico  ;  thence 
north  on  said  boundary  to  latitude  thirty-eight  ; 
thence  following  said  boundary  westward  to  the 
eastern  boundary  of  tho  Territory  of  Utah  on 
tho  summit  of  tuo  Rocky  Mountains;  thence 
northward  on  eaid  summit  to  the  fortieth  parallel 


THE  KANSAS-NEBRASKA   STRUGGLE. 


149 


of  said  latitude ;  thence  east  on  said  parallel  to  i 
the  western  boundary  of  the  State  of  Missouri ;  j 
thence  south  with  the  western  boundary  of  said 
State  to  the  place  of  beginning  ;  and  do  ordain 
and  establish  the  following  CONSTITUTION  and 
BILL  OF  RIGHTS  for  the  government  thereof: 

ARTICLE  I. — BILL  OF  RIGHTS 
SECTION  1.  All  men  are  by  nature  free  and 
independent,  and  have  certain  inalienable  rights, 
among  which  are  those  of  enjoying  and  defending 
life  and  liberty,  acquiring,'  possessing,  and  pro 
tecting  property,  and  seeking  and  obtaining 
happiness  and  safety. 

SEC.  2.  All  political  po-wer  is  inherent  in  the 
PEOPLE.  Government  is  instituted  for  their 
equal  protection  and  benefit ;  and  they  have  the 
right  to  alter,  reform  or  abolish  the  same  when 
ever  they  may  deem  it  necessary  ;  and  no  special 
privileges  or  immunities  shall  ever  be  granted 
that  may  not  be  altered,  revoked,  or  repealed  by 
the  General  Assembly. 

SEC.  3.  The  people  have  the  right  to  assemble 
together,  in  a  peaceable  manner,  to  consult,  for 
their  common  good,  to  instruct  their  Represent 
atives,  and  to  petition  the  General  Assembly 
for  the  redress  of  grievances. 

SEC.  4.  The  people  have  the  right  to  bear  arms 
for  their  defense  and  security,  but  standing  ar 
mies  in  time  of  peace  are  dangerous  to  liber 
ty,  and  shall  not  be  kept  up ;  and  the  military 
shall  be  kept  in  strict  subordination  to  the  civil 
power. 

SEC.  5.  The  right  of  trial  by  jury  shall  be  in 
violate. 

SEC.  6.  There  shall  be  no  Slavery  in  this  State, 
nor  involuntary  servitude,  unless  for  the  punish 
ment  of  crime. 

SEC.  7.  All  men  have  a  natural  and  indefeasi 
ble  right  to  worship  Almighty  God  according  to 
the  dictates  of  their  own  conscience.  No  person 
shall  be  compelled  to  attend,  erect  or  support 
any  place  of  worship,  or  maintain  any  form  of 
worship  against  his  consent ;  and  no  preference 
shall  be  given  by  law  to  any  religious  society  ; 
nor  shall  any  interference  with  the  rights  of 
conscience  be  permitted.  No  religious  test  shall 
be  required  as  a  qualification  for  office,  nor  shall 
any  person  be  incompetent  to  be  a  witness  on  ac 
count  of  his  religious  belief;  but  nothing  hereir 
shall  be  construed  to  dispense  with  oaths  and 
affirmations.  Religion,  morality,  and  knowledge, 
however,  being  essential  to  good  government,  il 
shall  be  the  duty  of  the  General  Assembly  to 
pass  suitable  laws  to  protect  every  religious  de 
nomination  in  the  peaceable  enjoyment  of  its 
own  mode  of  public  worship,  and  to  encourage 
schools  and  the  means  of  instruction. 

SEC.  8.  The  privilege  of  the  writ  of  habeas 
corpus  shall  not  oe  suspended,  unless  in  case  of 
rebellion  or  invasion  the  public  safety  require  it 
SEC.  9.  All  persons  shall  be  bailable  by  suffi 
cient  sureties,  unless  for  capital  offenses  where 
the  proof  is  evident,  or  the  presumption  great 
Excessive  bail  shall  not  be  required,  nor  exces 
sive  fines  imposed,  nor  cruel  and  unusual  pun 
ishmeuts  inflicted. 

SEC.  10.  Except  in  cases  of  impeachment,  and 
cases  arising  in  the  army  and  navy,  or  in  the 
militia,  when  in  actual  service,  in  time  of  war 
or  public  danger,  and  in  cases  of  petit  larceny 
and  other  inferior  offenses,  no  person  shall  be 
held  to  answer  for  a  capital  or  otherwise  infa 
mous  crime,  unless  on  presentment  or  indictmen 
of  a  Grand  Jury.  In  any  trial,  in  any  court,  the 
party  accused  shall  be  allowed  to  appear  anc1 
defend  in  person,  and  with  counsel,  to  demam 
the  nature  and  cause  of  the  accusation  agains 
him,  and  to  have  a  copy  thereof ;  to  meet  the 
witnesses  face  to  face,  and  to  have  eompulsorj 
process  to  procure  the  attendance  of  witnesses 


in  his  behalf,  and  a  speedy  public  trial  by  an  im- 
artial  jury  of  the  county  or  district  in  which  the 
ffense'is  alleged  to  have  been  committed  ;  nor 
ball  any  person  be  compelled  in  any  criminal 
ase  to  be  a  witness  against  himself,  or  be  twice 
iut  in  jeopardy  for  the  same  offense. 

SEC.  11.  Every  citizen  may  freely  speak,  write 
ind  publish  his  sentiments  on  all  subjects,  being 
esponsible  for  the  abuse  of  the  right ;  and  no 
aw  shall  be  passed  to  restrain  or  abridge  the 
'berty  of  speech  or  of  the  press.  In  all  criminal 
prosecutions  or  indictments  for  libel,  the  truth 
may  be  given  in  evidence  to  the  jury,  and  if  it 
shall  appear  to  the  jury  that  the  matter  charged 
as  libelous  is  true,  and  was  published  with  good 
notives,  and  for  justifiable  ends,  the  party  shall 
)e  acquitted. 

SEC.  12.  No  person  shall  be  transported  out  of 
;he  State  for  any  offense  committed  within  the 
same  ;  and  no  conviction  shall  work  corruption 
of  blood  or  forfeiture  of  estate. 

SEC.  13.  No  soldier  shall,  in  time  of  peace,  be 
quartered  in  any  house  without  the  consent  of 
the  owner ;  nor  in  time  of  war,  except  in  a  man- 
er  prescribed  by  law. 

SEC.  14.  The  right  of  the  people  to  be  secure  in 
their  persons,  houses,  papers,  and  possessions, 
against  unreasonable  searches  and  seizures,  shall 
not  be  violated :  and  no  warrant  shall  Issue  but 
upon  probable  cause,  supported  by  oath  or  af 
firmation,  particularly  describing  the  place  to 
be  searched,  and  the  persons  and  things  to  be 
seized. 

SEC.  15.  No  person  shall  be  imprisoned  for 
debt  in  any  civil  action,  or  mesne  or  final  pro 
cess,  unless  in  case  of  fraud. 

SEC.  16.  All  courts  shall  be  open;  and  every 
person  for  an  injury  done  him  in  his  land,  goods, 
person,  or  reputation,  shall  have  remedy  by  due 
course  of  law,  and  justice  administered  without 
denial  or  delay. 

SEC.  17.  No  hereditary  emoluments,  honors,  or 
privileges,  shall  ever  be  granted  or  conferred  by 
this  State. 

SEC.  18.  No  power  of  suspending  laws  shall 
ever  be  exercised,  except  by  the  General  Assem 
bly. 

SEC.  19.  The  payment  of  a  tax  shah1  not  be 
a  qualification  for  exercising  the  right  of  suf 
frage. 

SEC.  20.  Private  property  shall  ever  be  held 
inviolate,  but  subservient  to  the  public  welfare. 
When  taken  in  time  of  war,  or  other  public  exi 
gency,  imperatively  requiring  its  immediate 
seizure,  or  for  the  purpose  of  making  or  repair 
ing  roads,  which  shall  be  open  to  the  public  use, 
without  toll  or  other  charge  therefor,  a  compen 
sation  shall  be  made  to  the  owner  in  money  ;  and 
in  all  other  cases,  where  private  property  shall 
be  taken  for  public  use,  a  compensation  there 
for  shall  first  be  made  in  money,  first  secured  by 
a  deposit  of  money,  and  such  compensation  shall 
be  assessed  by  a  jury,  without  deduction  for 
benefits  to  any  property  of  the  owner. 

SEC.  21.  No  indenture  of  any  negro,  or  mulat 
to,  made  and  executed  out  of  the  bounds  of  the 
State,  shall  be  valid  within  the  State. 

SEC.  22.  This  enumeration  of  rights  shall  not 
be  construed  to  impair  or  deny  others  retained 
by  the  people ;  and  all  powers  not  herein  dele 
gated  shall  remain  with  the  people. 

ARTICLE  II. — ELECTIVE  FRANCHISE. 

SECTION  1.  In  all  elections  by  the  people,  the 
vote  shall  be  by  ballot,  and  in  all  elections  in 
the  General  Assembly,  the  vote  shall  be  viva 
voce. 

SEC.  2.  Every  white  male  person,  and  every 
civilized  male  Indian  who  has  adopted  the  hab 
its  of  the  white  man,  of  the  age  of  twenty-one 
years  and  upward,  who  shah1  be  at  the  time  of 


150 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  SLAVERY  RESTRICTION. 


offering  to  vote  a  citizen  of  the  United  States  ; 
who  shall  have  resided,  and  had  his  habitation, 
domicile,  home,  and  place  of  permanent  abode  in 
the  State  of  Kansas  for  six  months  next  preced 
ing  the  election  at  which  he  offers  his  vote  ;  who, 
at  such  time,  and  for  thirty  days  immediately 
preceding  said  time,  shall  have  had  his  actual 
habitation,  domicile,  home,  and  place  of  abode  in 
the  county  in  which  he  offers  to  vote  ;  and  who 
shall  have  resided  in  the  precinct  or  election- 
district  for  at  least  ten  days  immediately  preced 
ing  the  election,  shall  be  deemed  a  qualified  elec 
tor  at  all  elections  under  this  Constitution, 
except  at  elections  by  general  ticket  in  the  State 
or  district  prescribed  by  law,  in  which  case  the 
elector  must  have  the  aforesaid  qualifications, 
but  a  residence  in  said  district  for  ten  days  will 
entitle  him  to  vote  :  Provided,  That  no  soldier, 
seaman,  or  marine  of  the  regular  army  of  the 
United  States  shall  be  considered  a  resident  of 
the  State  in  consequence  of  being  stationed  with 
in  the  same. 

SEC.  3.  The  General  Assembly  shall,  at  its  first 
session,  provide  for  the  registration  of  all  quali 
fied  electors  in  each  county,  and  thereafter,  from 
time  to  time,  of  all  who  may  become  qualified 
electors. 

SEC.  4.  The  Legislature  shall  have  power  to 
exclude  from  every  office  of  honor,  trust  or  profit 
within  the  State,  and  from  the  right  of  suf 
frage,  all  persons  convicted  of  any  infamous 
crime. 

SEC.  5.  No  person  shall  be  deemed  capable  of 
holding  or  being  elected  to  any  post  of  honor, 
profit,  trust,  or  emolument,  civil  or  military,  or 
exercise  the  right  of  suffrage  under  the  govern 
ment  of  this  State,  who  shall  hereafter  fight  a 
duel,  send  or  accept  a  challenge  to  fight  a  duel, 
or  who  shall  be  a  second  to  either  party,  or  who 
shall  in  any  manner  aid  or  assist  in  such  duel,  or 
who  shall  be  knowingly  the  bearer  of  such  chal 
lenge  or  acceptance,  whether  the  same  occur  or 
be  committed  in  or  out  of  the  State. 

SEC.  5.  No  person  who  may  hereafter  be  col 
lector  or  holder  of  public  moneys  shall  be  eligi 
ble  to  any  office  of  trust  or  profit  in  the  State 
until  he  shall  have  accounted  for  and  paid  into 
the  proper  public  treasury  all  sums  for  which  he 
may  be  accountable. 

SEC.  7.  No  State  officer  or  member  of  the 
General  Assembly  of  this  State  shall  receive  a 
fee,  be  engaged  as  counsel,  agent,  or  attorney,  in 
any  case  or  claim  against  the  State. 

SEC.  8.  No  Senator  or  Representative  shall, 
during  the  term  of  office  for  which  he  shall  have 
been  elected,  be  appointed  to  any  civil  office  of 
profit  in  this  State  which  shall  have  been  created, 
or  the  emoluments  of  which  shall  have  been  in 
creased  during  such  term,  except  such  offices  as 
may  be  filled  by  election  by  the  people. 

SEC.  9.  All  officers,  civil  and  military,  in  this 
State,  before  they  enter  upon  the  duties  of  their 
respective  offices,  shall  take  the  following  oath 

or  affirmation :  "  I ,  do  swear  [or 

affirm]  that  I  will  support  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  and  of  the  State  of  Kansas ;  that  I 
am  duly  qualified  according  to  the  Constitution 
to  exercise  the  office  to  which  I  have  been  elect 
ed,  [or  appointed,]  and  will,  to  the  best  of  my 
abilities,  discharge  the  duties  thereof  faithfully 
and  impartially,  according  to  law." 

SEC.  10.  Every  person  shall  be  disqualified 
from  holding  any  office  of  honor  or  profit  in  this 
State,  who  shall  have  been  convicted  of  having 
given  or  offered  any  bribe  to  procure  his  elec 
tion,  or  who  shall  have  made  use  of  any  undue 
influence  from  power,  tumult,  or  other  improper 
practices. 

SEC.  11.  All  civil  officers  of  the  State  shall 
reside  within  the  State,  and  all  District  and 
County  officers  within  their  respective  Districts 


and  Counties,  and  shall  have  their  offices  at  such 
places  as  may  be  required  by  law. 

SEC.  12.  Returns  of  elections  for  members  of 
Congress,  the  General  Assembly,  and  all  other 
officers  not  otherwise  provided  for,  shall  be  made 
to  the  Secretary  of  State,  in  such  manner  as  may 
be  prescribed  by  law. 

SEC.  13.  Electors  shall  in  all  cases  be  privi 
leged  from  arrest  during  their  attendance  on 
elections,  and  in  going  to  and  returning  there 
from,  except  in  case  of  felony,  treason,  and  breach 
of  the  peace. 

ARTICLE  III. — DISTRIBUTION  OF  POWERS. 

SECTION  1.  The  powers  of  the  Government 
shall  be  divided  into  three  separate  departments 
— the  Legislative,  the  Executive,  including  the 
Administrative,  and  the  Judicial ;  and  no  per 
son  charged  with  official  duties  under  one  of 
these  departments  shall  exercise  any  of  the 
functions  of  another,  except  as  in  this  Constitu 
tion  expressly  provided. 

ARTICLE  IV. — LEGISLATIVE. 

SECTION  1.  The  Legislative  power  of  this 
State  shall  be  vested  in  the  General  Assembly, 
which  shall  consist  of  a  Senate  and  House  of 
Representatives. 

SEC.  2.  The  Senators  and  Representatives 
shall  be  chosen  annually  by  the  qualified  elect 
ors  of  the  respective  Counties  or  Districts  for 
which  they  are  chosen,  on  the  first  Monday  of 
August,  for  one  year,  and  their  term  of  office 
shall  commence  on  the  first  day  of  January  next 
thereafter. 

_  SEC.  3.  There  shall  be  elected  at  the  first  elec 
tion  twenty  Senators,  and  sixty  Representatives, 
and  the  number  afterward  shall  be  regulated  by 
law. 

SEC.  4.  No  person  shall  be  eligible  to  the 
office  of  Senator,  or  Representative,  who  shall 
not  possess  the  qualifications  of  an  elector. 

SEC.  5.  No  person  holding  office  under  the  au 
thority  of  the  United  States,  or  any  lucrative 
office  under  the  authority  of  this  State,  shall  be 
eligible  to  or  hold  a  seat  in  the  General  Assem 
bly  ;  but  this  provision  shall  not  extend  to  town 
ship  officers,  justices  of  the  peace,  notaries  pub 
lic,  postmasters,  or  officers  of  the  militia. 

_SEC.  6.  Each  House,  except  as  otherwise  pro 
vided  in  this  Constitution,  shall  choose  its  own 
officers,  determine  its  own  rule  of  proceeding, 
punish  its  members  for  disorderly  conduct,  and 
with  the  concurrence  of  two-thirds  expel  a  mem 
ber,  but  not  the  second  time  for  the  same  cause ; 
and  shall  judge  of  the  qualification,  election  and 
return  of  its  own  members,  and  shall  have  all 
other  powers  necessary  for  its  safety  and  the  un 
disturbed  transaction  of  business. 

SEC.  7.  Each  House  shall  keep  a  journal  of  its 
proceedings  and  publish  the  same.  The  Yeas 
and  Nays  on  any  question  shall,  at  the  request 
of  two  members,  be  entered  on  the  journal. 

SEC.  8.  Any  member  of  either  House  shall 
have  the  right  to  protest  against  any  act  or  reso 
lution  thereof;  and  such  protest  and  reason 
therefor  shall,  without  alteration,  commitment 
or  delay,  be  entered  on  the  journal. 

SEC.  9.  All  vacancies  which  may  occur  in 
either  House  shall,  for  the  unexpired  term,  be 
filled  by  election  as  shall  be  prescribed  by 
law. 

SEC.  10.  Senators  and  Representatives  shall, 
in  all  cases  except  treason,  felony  or  breach  of 
the  peace,  be  privileged  from  arrest  during  the 
session  of  the  General  Assembly,  and  in  going 
to  and  returning  from  the  same ;  and  for  words 
spoken  in  debate  they  shall  not  be  questioned  in 
any  other  place. 

SEC.  11.  A  majority  of  all  the  members  elected 


THE  KANSAS-NEBRASKA  STRUGGLE. 


151 


to  each  House  shall  be  necessary  to  pass  every  bill 
or  joint  resolution,  and  all  bills  arid  joint  reso 
lutions  so  passed  shall  be  signed  by  the  presid 
ing  officers  of  the  respective  Houses,  and  pre 
sented  to  the  Governor  for  his  approval. 

SKC.  12.  The  doors  of  each  House,  and  of 
Committees  of  the  Whole,  shall  be  kept  open. 
Neither  House  shall,  without  the  consent  of  the 
other,  adjourn  for  more  than  two  days,  nor  to 
any  other  place  than  that  in  which  the  two 
Houses  shall  be  sitting,  except  for  personal 
safety. 

SEC.  13.  Every  bill  shall  be  read  by  sections 
on  three  several  days  in  each  House  unless  in 
case  of  emergency.  Two-thirds  of  the  House 
where  such  bill  is  pending,  may,  if  deemed  expe 
dient,  suspend  the  rules  on  a  call  of  the  Yeas  and 
Nays ;  but  the  reading  of  a  bill  by  sections  on  its 
final  passage  shall  in  no  case  be  dispensed 
with ;  and  the  vote  on  the  passage  of  every  bill 
or  joint  resolution  shall  be  taken  by  Yeas  and 
Nays. 

SEC.  14.  Every  act  shall  contain  but  one  sub 
ject,  which  shall  be  clearly  expressed  in  its  title. 
Bills  may  originate  in  either  House,  but  may  be 
altered,  amended,  or  rejected  by  the  other. 

SEC.  15.  In  all  cases  when  a  general  law  can 
be  made  applicable,  special  laws  shall  not  be 
enacted. 

SEC.  16.  No  act  shall  ever  be  revived  or 
amended  by  mere  reference  to  its  title ;  but  the 
act  revived,  or  the  section  amended,  shall  be  set 
forth  and  published  at  full  length. 

SEC.  17.  No  act  shall  take  effect  until  the  same 
shall  have  been  published  and  circulated  in  the 
counties  of  the  State  by  authority,  except  in 
case  of  emergency,  which  emergency  shall  be 
declared  in  the  preamble,  or  the  body  of  the 
law. 

SEC.  18.  The  election  and  appointment  of  all 
officers,  and  the  filling  of  all  vacancies  not  other 
wise  provided  for  by  this  Constitution,  or  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States,  shall  be  made 
in  such  manner  as  shall  be  prescribed  by  law ; 
but  no  appointing  power  shall  be  exercised  by 
the  General  Assembly,  except,  as  provided  in  this 
Constitution  and  in  the  election  of  the  United 
States  Senator,  and  in  these  cases  the  vote  shall 
be  taken  viva  voce. 

SEC.  19.  The  General  Assembly  shall  not  have 
power  to  enact  laws  annulling  the  contract  of 
marriage  in  any  case  where  by  law  the  courts 
of  this  State  may  have  power  to  decree  a  di 
vorce. 

SEC.  20.  The  General  Assembly  shall  not  have 
power  to  pass  retro-active  laws,  or  laws  impair 
ing  the  obligation  of  contracts,  but  may  by 
general  laws  authorize  Courts  to  carry  into  effect, 
upon  such  terms  as  shall  be  just  and  equitable, 
the  manifest  intention  of  parties  and  officers, 
by  curing  omissions,  defects,  and  errors  in  instru 
ments,  and  proceedings  arising  out  of  a  want  of 
conformity  with  the  laws  of  this  State. 

SEC.  21.  The  style  of  the  laws  of  this  State 
shall  be  :  "  Be  it  enacted  by  the  General  Assem 
bly  of  tke  State  of  Kansas." 

SEC.  22.  The  House  of  Eepresentatives  shall 
have  the  sole  power  of  impeachment.  All  im 
peachments  shall  be  tried  by  the  Senate,  and 
when  sitting  for  the  purpose,  the  Senators  shall 
be  upon  oath  or  affirmation  to  do  justice  ac 
cording  to  law  and  evidence.  No  person  shall  be 
convicted  without  the  concurrence  of  two-thirds 
of  all  the  Senators  present. 

SEC.  23.  The  Governor  and  all  other  civil  offi 
cers,  under  the  laws  of  this  State,  shall  be  liable 
to  impeachment  for  any  misdemeanor  in  office,  but 
judgment  in  such  cases  shall  not  extend  further 
than  to  removal  from  office,  and  disqualification 
to  hold  any  office  of  honor,  profit,  or  trust,  under 
this  State,  The  party,  whether  convicted  or 


acquitted,  shall  nevertheless  be  liable  to  indict 
ment,  trial,  judgment  and  punishment,  according 
to  law. 

SEC.  24.  Within  one  year  after  the  ratification 
of  this  Constitution,  and  within  every  subse 
quent  two  years  thereafter,  for  the  term  of  ten 
years,  an  enumeration  of  all  the  white  inhabitants 
of  this  State  shall  be  made  in  such  manner  as 
shall  be  directed  by  law. 

SEC,  25.  All  regular  sessions  of  the  General 
Assembly  shall  be  held  at  the  capital  of  the 
State,  and  shall  commence  on  the  firs  tTuesday 
of  January  annually. 

SEC.  26.  All  bills  for  raising  revenue  shall  origi 
nate  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  subject, 
however,  to  amendment  or  rejection  as  in  other 
cases. 

SEC.  27.  The  members  of  the  General  Assem 
bly  shall  receive  for  their  services  the  sum  of 
four  dollars  per  day  for  each  and  every  day  they 
are  actually  in  attendance  at  any  regular  or 
special  session,  and  four  dollars  fur  every 
twenty  miles  they  shall  travel  in  going  to  and 
returning  from  the  place  of  meeting  by  the  most 
usually  traveled  route ;  and  no  session  of  the 
General  Assembly,  except  the  first  under  this 
Constitution,  shall  extend  beyond  the  term  of 
sixty  days,  nor  any  special  session  more  than 
forty  days. 

ARTICLE  V. — EXECUTIVE. 

SECTION  1.  The  Executive  Department  shall 
consist  of  a  Governor,  a  Lieutenant-Governor, 
Secretary  of  State,  Treasurer,  Auditor,  and  At 
torney-General,  who  shall  be  chosen  by  tho 
electors  of  the  State  at  the  same  time  and  place 
of  voting  for  the  members  of  the  General  Assem 
bly. 

SEC.  2.  The  Governor,  Lieutenant-Governor, 
Secretary  of  State,  Treasurer,  Auditor,  Attorney- 
General,  and  State  Printer,  shall  hold  their  office 
for  two  years.  Their  terms  of  office  shall  com 
mence  on  the  first  Tuesday  of  January  next  after 
their  election,  and  continue  until  their  succes 
sors  are  elected  and  qualified,  neither  of  which 
officers  shall  be  eligible  for  re-election  more  than 
two  out  of  three  consecutive  terms  :  nor  shall  any 
person  be  eligible  for  the  office  of  Governor  who 
who  shall  not  have  attained  the  age  of  thirty 
years. 

SEC.  3.  The  returns  of  every  election  for  the 
officers  named  in  the  foregoing  section,  shall  be 
sealed  up  and  transmitted  to  the  seat  of  govern 
ment  by  the  returning-officers,  directed  to  the 
Secretary  of  State,  who  shall  lay  the  same  before 
the  General  Assembly  at  their  first  meeting 
thereafter,  when  they  shall  open,  publish  and  de 
clare  the  result  thereof  in  the  presence  of  a  ma 
jority  of  the  members  of  both  Houses.  The  per 
son  having  the  highest  number  of  votes  shall  be 
declared  duly  elected,  and  a  certificate  thereof 
given  to  such  person,  signed  by  the  presiding 
officers  of  both  bodies  ;  but  if  any  two  or  more 
shall  be  highest  and  equal  in  votes  for  the  same 
office,  one  of  them  shall  be  chosen  by  the  joint 
vote  of  both  Houses. 

SEC.  4.  The  supreme  executive  power  shall  be 
vested  in  a  Governor. 

SEC.  5.  He  may  require  information  in  writing 
from  the  officers  in  the  Executive  Department 
upon  any  subject  relating  to  the  duties  of  then: 
respective  offices,  and  shall  see  that  the  laws  are 
faithfully  executed. 

SEC.  6.  He  shall  communicate  at  every  session, 
by  message,  to  the  General  Assembly,  the  condi 
tion  of  the  affairs  of  the  State,  and  recommend 
such  measures  as  ho  shall  deem  expedient  for 
their  action. 

SEC.  7.  He  may  on  extraordinary  occasions 
convene  the  General  Assembly  by  proclamation, 


152 


THE   STRUGGLE   FOR  SLAVERY  RESTRICTION. 


and  shall  state  to  both  Houses  when  assembled 
the  purposes  for  which  they  were  convened. 

SEC.  8.  In  case  of  disagreement  between  the 
two  Houses,  in  respect  to  the  time  of  adjourn 
ment,  he  shall  have  power  to  adjourn  the  Gene 
ral  Assembly  to  such  time  as  he  may  think 
proper,  but  not  beyond  the  regular  meetings 
thereof. 

SEC.  9.  He  shall  be  comm  and  er-in  chief  of  Ihe 
military  in  the  State,  except  when  they  shall  be 
called  into  the  service  of  the  United  States. 

SEC.  10  The  pardoning  power  shall  be  vested 
in  the  Governor,  under  such  regulations  and  re 
strictions  as  may  be  prescribed  by  law. 

SEC.  11.  There  shall  be  a  seal  of  the  State,  the 
device  ot  which  shall  be  fixed  upon  by  the  Gov 
ernor  and  other  State  officers,  be  kept  by  the 
Governor  and  used  by  him  officially,  and  shall 
be  called  "  The  Great  Seal  of  the  State  of  Kan 
sas." 

SEC.  12.  All  grants  and  commissions  shall  be 
nsed  in  the  name  and  by  the  authority  of  the 
State  of  Kansas,  sealed  with  the  great  seal,  sign 
ed  by  the  Governor,  and  countersigned  by  the 
Secretary  of  State. 

SEC.  13.  No  member  of  either  House  of  Con 
gress,  or  other  persons  holding  office  under  the 
authority  of  this  State,  or  of  the  United  States, 
shall  execute  the  office  of  Governor  except  as 
herein  provided. 

SEC.  14.  In  the  case  of  death,  impeachment, 
resignation,  removal,  or  other  disability  of  the 
Governor,  the  Lieutenant-Governor  shall  exer 
cise  the  duties  of  the  office  of  Governor,  until 
another  Governor  shall  be  duly  qualified  ;  but  in 
such  case  another  Governor  shall  be  chosen  at 
the  next  annual  election  for  members  of  the 
General  Assembly,  unless  such  death,  resigna 
tion,  impeachment,  removal,  or  other  disability 
shall  occur  within  three  calendar  months  imme 
diately  preceding  such  next  annual  election,  in 
which  case  a  Governor  shall  be  chosen  at  the 
second  succeeding  annual  election  for  members 
of  the  General  Assembly,  and  in  case  of  the 
death,  impeachment,  resignation,  removal,  or 
other  disability  of  the  Lieutenant-Governor,  the 
President  of  the  Senate  pro  tern,  shall  exercise 
the  office  of  Governor  until  a  Governor  shall  be 
duly  qualified  as  aforesaid. 

SEC.  15.  The  Lieut-Governor  shall  be  Presi 
dent  of  the  Senate,  but  shall  vote  only  when  the 
Senate  is  equally  divided,  and  shall  be  entitled 
to  the  same  pay  as  the  Speaker  of  the  House  of 
Representatives,  and  in  case  of  his  death,  im 
peachment,  resignation,  removal  from  office,  or 
when  he  shall  exercise  the  office  of  Governor, 
the  Senate  shall  choose  a  President  pro  tern. 

SEC.  16.  Should  the  office  of  Secretary  of  State, 
Treasurer,  Auditor,  or  Attorney-General  become 
vacant,  for  any  of  the  causes  specified  in  the 
fourteenth  and  fifteenth  sections,  the  Governor 
shall  fill  the  vacancy  or  vacancies  until  the  disa 
bility  is  removed  or  a  successor  is  elected  and 
qualified.  Every  such  vacancy  shall  be  filled 
by  election,  at  the  first  general  election  that  oc 
curs  more  than  thirty  days  after  such  vacancy 
shall  have  occurred,  and  the  person  chosen  shall 
hold  the  office  for  the  full  term  fixed  in  the  sec 
ond  section  of  this  article. 

SEC.  17.  The  officers  mentioned  in  this  article 
shall,  at  stated  times,  receive  for  their  services 
compensation  to  be  fixed  by  law,  which  shall 
neither  be  increased  nor  diminished  during  the 
period  for  which  they  shall  have  been  elected. 

SEC.  18.  The  officers  of  the  Executive  Depart 
ment,  and  of  the  public  State  Institutions  shall, 
at  least  ten  days  preceding  each  regular  session 
of  the  General  Assembly,  severally  report  to  the 
Governor,  who  shall  transmit  the  same  to  the 
General  Assembly. 

SEC.  19.  Every  bill  which  shall  have  passed 


both  Houses  shall  be  presented  to  the  Governor. 
If  he  approve  he  shall  sign  the  same  ;  but  if  he 
shall  not  approve,  he  shall  return  it  with  his  ob 
jections  to  the  House  in  which  it  shall  have 
originated,  who  shall  enter  the  objections  at  large 
upon  the  journal,  and  proceed  to  reconsider  the 
same.  If  after  such  reconsideration  two-thirds 
of  that  House  shall  agree  to  pass  the  bill,  it  shall 
be  sent,  with  the  objections,  to  the  other  House, 
by  which,  likewise,  it  shall  be  reconsidered,  and 
if  approved  by  two-thirds  of  that  House,  it  shall 
be  a  law.  But  in  such  case  the  votes  of  both 
Houses  shall  be  determined  by  Yeas  and  Nays. 
and  the  names  of  the  persons  voting  for  or  against 
the  bill  shall  be  entered  upon  the  journals  of  the 
House  respectively.  If  any  bill  shall  not  be  re 
turned  by  the  Governor  within  five  days  (Sunday 
excepted)  after  it  shall  have  been  presented  to 
him,  it  shall  be  a  law  in  like  manner  as  if  he  had 
signed  it,  unless  the  General  Assembly,  by  their 
adjournment,  prevented  its  return,  in  which  case 
it  shall  also  be  a  law,  unless  sent  back  within 
two  days  after  the  next  meeting. 

SEC.  20.  Contested  elections  for  Governor, 
Lieutenant  Governor,  Judges  of  the  Supreme 
Court,  and  all  other  State  officers,  shall  be  deter 
mined  by  the  General  Assembly  in  such  man 
ner  as  may  be  prescribed  by  law. 

SEC.  21.  The  General  Assembly  shall  have 
power  to  provide  by  law  for  the  election  of  a 
Surveyor-General,  State  Geologist,  and  Superin 
tendent  of  Common  Schools,  whose  duties  shall 
be  prescribed  by  law. 

ARTICLE  VI.— JUDICIAL. 

SECTION  1.  The  Judicial  power  of  the  State 
shall  be  vested  in  a  Supreme  Court,  Courts  of 
Common  Pleas,  Justices  of  the  Peace,  and  in 
such  other  Courts  inferior  to  the  Supreme  Court 
as  the  General  Assembly  may  establish. 

SEC.  2.  The  Supreme  Court  shall  consist  of 
three  Judges,  a  majority  of  whom  shall  form  a 
quorum.  It  shall  have  such  original  and  appel 
late  jurisdiction  as  may  be  provided  by  law.  It 
shall  hold  at  least  one  term  each  year  at  the  seat 
of  Government,  and  such  other  Terms  as  may 
be  provided  by  law.  The  Judges  of  the  Su 
preme  Court  shall  be  elected  by  the  electors  of 
the  State  at  large. 

SEC.  3.  The  State  shall  be  divided  by  the  first 
General  Assembly  under  this  Constitution  into 
three  Common  Pleas  Districts  of  compact  Terri 
tory,  bounded  by  county  lines,  and  as  nearly 
equal  in  population  as  practicable;  and  a  Judge 
for  each  District  shall  be  chosen  by  the  electors 
thereof,  and  their  term  of  office  shall  be  for  three 
years. 

SEC.  4.  The  Courts  of  Common  Pleas  shall 
consist  of  one  Judge  each,  who  shall  reside  with 
in  the  district  for  which  he  is  chosen  during  his 
continuance  in  office. 

SEC.  5.  The  jurisdiction  of  the  Court  of  Com 
mon  Pleas  and  of  the  Judges  thereof  shall  be 
fixed  by  law. 

SEC.  6.  A  competent  number  of  Justices  of  the 
Peace  shall  be  elected  by  the  electors  in  each 
township  of  several  counties.  The  term  of  office 
shall  be  three  years,  and  their  powers  and  duties 
shall  be  fixed  by  law. 

SEC.  7.  All  Judges,  other  than  those  provided 
for  in  the  Constitution,  shall  be  elected  by  the 
electors  of  the  judicial  district  for  which  they 
may  be  created,  but  not  for  a  longer  term  of 
office  than  three  years. 

SEC.  8.  The  Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  shall, 
immediately  after  the  first  election  under  this 
Constitution,  be  classified  by  lot,  so  that  one  shall 
hold  for  the  term  of  one  year,  one  for  the  term 
of  three  years  ;  and  all  subsequent  elections  the 
term  of  each  of  said  Judges  shall  be  for  three 
years. 


THE  KANSAS-NEBRASKA  STRUGGLE. 


SEC.  9.  In  case  the  office  of  any  Judge  shall 
become  vacant  before  the  expiration  of  the  term 
for  which  he  was  elected,  the  vacancy  shall  be 
filled  by  appointment  by  the  Governor,  until  a 
successor  shall  be  elected  and  qualified  ;  and 
such  successor  shall  be  elected  for  the  residue 
of  the  unexpired  term,  at  Ihe  first  annual  election 
that  occurs  more  than  thirty  days  after  such 
vacancy  fhall  have  happened. 

SEC.  10.  The  Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court 
and  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  shall,  at  stat 
ed  times,  receive  such  compensation  as  may  be 
provided  by  law,  which  shall  not  be  increased 
or  diminished  during  their  term  of  office  ;  but 
they  shall  receive  no  fees  or  perquisites,  nor  hold 
any  other  office  of  profit  and  trust  under  the  State, 
other  than  a  judicial  office. 

SEC.  11.  The  General  Assembly  may  increase 
or  diminish  the  number  of  the  Judges  of  the 
Supreme  Court,  the  number  of  the  districts  of 
the  Courts  of  Common  Pleas,  the  number  of 
Judges  in  any  district,  or  establish  other  courts, 
whenever  two-thirds  of  the  members  elected  to 
each  House  shall  concur  therein  ;  but  no  such 
change,  addition,  or  diminution  shall  vacate  the 
office  of  any  Judge. 

SEC.  12.  There  shall  be  elected  in  each  county, 
by  the  electors  thereof,  one  Clerk  of  the  Court 
of  Common  Pleas,  who  shall  hold  his  office  for  the 
term  of  three  years,  and  until  his  successor  shall 
be  elected  and  qualified. 

SEC.  13.  The  General  Assembly  shall  provide 
by  law  for  the  speedy  publication  of  the  decis 
ions  of  the  Supreme  Court  made  under  this  Con 
stitution. 

SEC.  14.  The  Supreme  Court  shall,  upon  the 
decision  of  every  case,  give  an  opinion  in  writ 
ing  of  each  question  arising  in  the  record  in  such 
case  and  the  decision  of  the  Court  thereon. 

SEC.  15.  There  shall  be  elected  by  the  voters 
of  the  State  a  Clerk  and  a  Reporter  for  the  Su 
preme  Court,  who  shall  hold  their  offices  for 
three  years,  and  whose  duties  shall  be  pre 
scribed  by  law. 

SEC.  16.  Judges  may  be  removed  from  office 
by  concurrent  resolution  of  both  Houses  of  the 
General  Assembly,  if  two-thirds  of  the  members 
elected  to  each  House  concur  therein  ;  but  no 
such  removal  shall  be  made  except  upon  com 
plaint,  the  substance  of  which  shall  be  entered 
rn  the  journal,  nor  until  the  party  thereof 
rged  shall  have  had  notice  thereof,  and  an 
opportunity  to  be  heard. 

SEC.  17.  The  several  Judges  of  the  Supreme 
Court,  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  and  of 
such  other  courts  as  may  be  created  by  law, 
shall  respectively  have  and  exercise  such  power 
and  jurisdiction,  at  chambers  or  otherwise,  as 
may  be  provided  by  law. 

SEC.  18.  The  style  of  all  process  shall  be  "  The 
State  of  Kansas."  All  prosecutions  shall  be  car 
ried  on  in  the  name  and  by  the  authority  of  the 
State  of  Kansas,  and  all  indictments  shall  con 
clude  "  Against  the  peace  and  dignity  of  the 
State  of  Kansas.1' 

ARTICLE  VII. — EDUCATION. 

SECTION*  1.  The  principal  of  all  funds  arising 
from  the  sale  or  other  disposition  of  lands  or 
other  property  granted  or  intrusted  to  this  State 
for  educational  and  religious  purposes,  shall  for 
ever  be  preserved  inviolate  and  undiminished, 
and  the  income  arising  therefrom  shall  be  faith 
fully  applied  to  the  specific  objects  of  the  origi 
nal  grants  or  appropriations. 

SEC.  2.  The  General  Assembly  shall  make 
such  provision,  by  taxation  or  otherwise,  as,  with 
the  income  arising  from  the  school-trust  fund, 
will  secure  a  thorough  and  efficient  system  of 
common  schools  throughout  the  Stale ;  but  no 
religious  or  other  sect  or  sects  shall  ever  have 


153 

1  any  exclusive  right  to,  or  control  of,  any  part  of 
the  school  funds  of  this  State. 

SEC.  3.  The  General  Assembly  may  take  meas 
ures  for  the  establishment  of  a  University,  with 
such  branches  as  the  public  convenience  may 
hereafter  demand,  for  the  promotion  of  literature, 
the  arts,  sciences,  medical  and  agricultural  in 
struction. 

SEC.  4.  Provision  may  be  made  by  the  law 
for  the  support  of  normal  schools,  with  suitable 
libraries  and  scientific  apparatus. 

ARTICLE  VIII. — PUBLIC  INSTITUTIONS. 

SECTION  1.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  General 
Assembly,  at  as  early  a  date  as  possible,  to  pro 
vide  State  Asylums  for  the  benefit,  treatment 
and  instruction  of  the  blind,  deaf  and  dumb,  and 
insane. 

SEC.  2.  The  General  Assembly  shall  make  pro 
vision  for  the  establishment  of  an  Asylum  for 
idiots,  to  be  regulated  by  law. 

SEC.  3.  The  respective  counties  of  the  State 
shall  provide  in  some  suitable  manner  for  those 
inhabitants  who,  by  reason  of  age,  infirmity  or 
other  misfortune,  may  have  claims  upon  the 
sympathy  and  aid  of  society ;  under  provis 
ions  to  be  made  by  the  laws  of  the  General  As 
sembly. 

SEC.  4.  The  General  Assembly  shall  make 
provision  for  the  establishment  of  houses  of  re 
fuge  for  the  correction,  reform,  and  instruction  of 
juvenile  offenders. 

SEC.  5.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  General  As 
sembly  to  make  provisions  as  soon  as  possible 
for  a  State  General  Hospital. 

ARTICLE  IX. — PUBLIC  DEBT  AND  PUBLIC 
WORKS. 

SECTION  1.  No  money  shall  be  paid  out  of  the 
treasury  except  in  pursuance  of  an  appropriation 
by  law. 

SEC.  2.  The  credit  of  the  State  shall  never  be 
given  or  loaned  in  aid  of  any  individual  associa 
tion  or  corporation. 

SEC.  3.  For  the  purpose  of  defraying  extraor 
dinary  expenditures,  the  State  may  contract  pub 
lic  debts,  but  such  debts  shall  never  in  the  aggre 
gate  exceed  one  hundred  thousand  dollars,  unless 
authorized  by  a  direct  vote  of  the  people  at  a 
general  election.  Every  such  debt  shall  be  au 
thorized  by  law,  and  every  such  law  shall  pro 
vide  for  the  payment  of  the  annual  interest  of 
such  debt,  and  the  principal  within  ten  years 
from  the  passage  of  such  law,  and  such  appro 
priation  shall  not  be  repealed  until  the  principal 
and  interest  shall  have  been  wholly  paid. 

SEC.  4.  The  Legislature  may  also  borrow 
money  to  repel  invasion,  suppress  insurrection, 
or  defend  the  State  in  time  of  war ;  but  the  money 
thus  raised  shall  be  applied  exclusively  to  the 
object  for  which  the  loan  was  authorized,  or  re 
payment  of  the  debts  thereby  created. 

SEC.  5.  No  scrip,  certificate,  or  other  evidence 
of  State  debt  whatever,  shall  be  issued,  except 
for  such  debts  as  are  authorized  by  the  third 
and  fourth  sections  of  this  article. 

ARTICLE  X. — MILITIA. 

SECTION  1.  The  militia  shall  consist  of  all  able- 
bodied  white  male  persons  between  the  ages  of 
eighteen  and  forty  years :  except  such  as  may 
be  exempt  by  the  laws  of  the  United  States  or 
of  this  State,  and  shall  be  organized,  officered, 
armed,  equipped,  and  trained  in  such  manner  as 
may  be  provided  by  law. 

SEC.  2.  The  Governor  shall  appoint  the  Adju 
tant,  Quartermaster  and  Commissary  Gene 
rals. 

SEC.  3.  All  militia  officers  shall  be  commia- 


154 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  SLAVERY  RESTRICTION. 


sioned  by  the  Governor  and  shall  hold  their 
offices  not  longer  than  three  years. 

SEC.  4.  The  General  Assembly  shall  determine 
the  method  of  dividing  the  militia  into  divisions, 
brigades,  regiments,  battalions  and  companies, 
and  fix  the  rank  of  all  officers. 

SEC.  5.  The  militia  may  be  divided  into 
classes,  in  such  manner  as  shall  be  prescribed 
by  law. 

SEC.  6.  No  person  conscientiously  opposed  to 
bearing  arms  shall  be  compelled  to  do  militia 
duty  ;  but  such  person  shall  pay  an  equivalent 
for  such  exemption,  the  amount  to  be  prescribed 
by  law. 

SEC.  7.  The  first  General  Assembly  shall  ofi'er 
inducements  for  the  formation,  uniforming  and 
drilling  of  independent  volunteer  companies  in 
the  different  cities  and  counties  in  this  State. 

ARTICLE  XI. — FINANCE  AND  TAXATION. 

SECTION  1.  The  General  Assembly  shall  pro 
vide,  by  law,  for  uniform  and  equal  rate  of  as 
sessment  and  taxation;  and  taxes  shall  be  levied 
upon  all  such  property,  real  and  personal,  as  the 
General  Assembly  may,  from  time  to  time,  pre 
scribe  ;  but  all  property  appropriated  and  used 
exclusively  for  municipal,  literary,  educational, 
scientific  or  charitable  purposes,  and  personal 
property  to  an  amount  not  exceeding  one  hun 
dred  dollars,  for  each  head  of  a  family,  and  all 
property  appropriated  and  used  exclusively  for 
religious  purposes  to  an  amount  not  exceeding 
$200,000,  may,  by  general  laws,  be  exempted  from 
taxation. 

SEC.  2.  The  General  Assembly  shall  provide 
by  law  for  an  annual  tax  sufficient  to  defray  the 
estimated  ordinary  expenses  of  the  State  for  each 
year. 

SEC.  3.  Every  law  imposing  a  tax  shall  state 
distinctly  the  object  of  the  same,  to  which  it  shall 
be  applied. 

SEC.  4.  On  the  passage,  in  either  House  of  the 
General  Assembly,  of  any  law  which  imposes, 
continues  or  renews  a  tax ;  or  makes,  continues 
or  renews  an  appropriation  of  public  or  trust 
money ;  or  releases,  discharges  or  commutes  a 
claim  or  demand  of  the  State,  the  question  shall 
be  taken  by  Yeas  and  Nays,  which  shall  be  duly 
entered  on  the  journal ;  and  three-fifths  of  all  the 
members  elected  to  such  House  shall,  in  all  such 
cases,  be  required  to  constitute  a  quorum. 

ARTICLE  XII. — COUNTY  AND  TOWNSHIP   OFFI 
CERS. 

SECTION  1.  The  General  Assembly  shall  pro 
vide  by  law  for  the  election  of  county,  city,  town 
and  township  officers. 

SEC.  2.  All  officers  whose  election  or  appoint 
ment  is  not  provided  for  by  this  Constitution 
shall  be  elected  by  the  people,  or  appointed  as 
the  General  Assembly  may  by  law  direct. 

SEC.  3.  Provision  shall  be  made  bv  law  for  the 
removal,  for  misconduct  or  malversation  in  office, 
of  all  officers  whose  powers  and  duties  are  not 
local  or  legislative,  and  who  shall  be  elected  at 
general  elections,  and  also  for  supplying  vacan 
cies  created  by  such  removal. 

SEC.  4.  The  Legislature  may  declare  the  cases 
in  which  any  office  shall  be  deemed  vacant, 
where  no  provision  is  made  for  that  purpose  in 
this  Constitution. 

ARTICLE  XIII.— CORPORATION. 

SECTION  1.  The  General  Assembly  shall  not 
create  corporations  by  special  act,  except  for 
municipal  purposes. 

SEC.  2.  Corporations  may  be  formed  under 
general  laws,  but  such  laws  may  at  any  time  be 
altered  or  repealed. 


ARTICLE  XIV. — JURISPRUDENCE. 

SECTION  1.  The  General  Assembly,  at  its  first 
session,  shall  constitute  three  Commissioners, 
whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  revise,  reform,  simplify 
and  abridge  the  rules  of  practice,  pleadings, 
forms  and  proceedings  of  the  Courts  of  Record 
of  this  State,  and  to  provide,  so  far  as  practica 
ble  and  expedient,  that  justice  shall  be  adminis 
tered  by  intelligent  and  uniform  proceedings, 
without  any  distinction  between  law  and  equity. 

SEC.  2.  The  proceedings  of  the  Commissioners 
shall  be  reported  to  the  General  Assembly,  and 
be  subject  to  the  action  of  that  body. 

ARTICLE  XV. — MISCELLANEOUS. 

SECTION  1.  The  first  General  Assembly  shall 
locate  the  permanent  seat  of  government. 

SEC.  2.  Lotteries  and  the  sale  of  lottery  tickets 
for  any  purpose  whatever,  shall  forever  be  pro 
hibited  in  the  State. 

SEC.  3.  No  person  shall  be  elected  or  appoint 
ed  to  any  office  in  this  State  unless  they  possess 
the  qualifications  of  an  elector. 

SEC.  4.  There  may  be  established  in  the  Secre 
tary  of  State's  office  a  Bureau  of  Statistics  and 
Agriculture,  under  such  regulations  as  may  be 
prescribed  by  law,  and  provision  shall  be  made 
by  the  General  Assembly  for  the  organization 
and  encouragement  of  State  and  county  Agri 
cultural  Associations. 

SEC.  5.  The  first  General  Assembly  shall  pro 
vide  by  law  for  securing  to  the  wife  the  separate 
property  acquired  by  her  before  or  after  cove- 
ture,  and  the  equal  right  with  the  husband  to  the 
custody  of  their  children  during  their  minority  ; 
and  in  case  of  death,  insanity,  intemperance,  or 
gross  impropriety  of  the  husband,  their  exclusive 
custody. 

ARTICLE  XVI. — AMENDMENTS  TO  THE  CONSTI 
TUTION. 

SECTION  1.  All  propositions  for  amendments 
to  the  Constitution  shall  be  made  by  the  General 
Assembly. 

SEC.  2.  A  concurrence  of  two-thirds  of  the 
members  elected  to  each  House  shall  bo  neces 
sary,  after  which  such  proposed  amendments 
shall  be  entered  upon  the  journals  with  the  Yeas 
and  Nays,  and  the  Secretary  of  State  shall  cause 
the  same  to  be  published  in  at  least  one  news 
paper  in  each  County  in  the  State  where  a  news 
paper  is  published,  for  at  least  six  months  pre 
ceding  the  next  election  for  Senators  and  Rep 
resentatives,  when  such  proposed  amendments 
shall  be  again  referred  to  the  Legislature  elected 
next  succeeding  said  publication.  If  passed  by 
the  second  Legislature,  by  a  majority  of  two- 
thirds  of  the  members  elected  to  each  House, 
such  amendments  shall  be  re-published  as  afore 
said  for  at  least  six  months  prior  to  the  next 
general  election,  at  which  election  such  proposed 
amendments  shall  be  submitted  to  the  people  for 
their  approval  or  rejection,  and  if  the  majority 
of  the  electors  voting  at  such  election  shall 
adopt  such  amendments,  the  same  shall  become 
a  part  of  the  Constitution. 

SEC.  3.  When  more  than  one  amendment  is 
submitted  at  the  same  time,  they  shall  be  so  sub 
mitted  as  to  enable  the  electors  to  vote  upon 
each  amendment  separately. 

SEC.  4,  No  convention  for  the  formation  of  a 
new  constitution  shall  be  called,  and  no  amend 
ment  to  the  Constitution  shall  be  by  the  General 
Assembly  made,  before  the  year  1865,  nor  more 
than  once  in  five  years  thereafter. 

ARTICLE  XVII.— BANKS  AND  CURRENCY. 
SECTION  1.   No  banks  shall  be  established 
otherwise  than  under  a  General  Banking  Law. 


THE  KANSAS-NEBRASKA  STRUGGLE. 


155 


SEC.  2.  If  the  General  Assembly  shall  enact  a 
General  Banking  Law,  such  law  shall  provide 
for  the  registry  and  countersigning  by  the  Au 
ditor  of  State  of  all  paper  credit  designed  to  be 
circulated  as  money,  with  ample  collateral  se 
curity,  readily  convertible  into  specie  for  the 
redemption  of  the  same  in  gold  or  silver,  shall  be 
required ;  which  collateral  security  shall  be 
under  the  control  of  the  proper  officer,  or  officers 
of  State.  Such  law  shall  restrict  the  aggregate 
amount  of  all  paper  credit  to  be  circulated  as 
money,  and  the  aggregate  amount  to  be  put  in 
circulation  in  any  one  year ;  and  no  note  issued 
under  the  provision  of  this  section  shall  be  of 
a  less  denomination  than  ten  dollars, 

SEC.  3.  The  stockholders  in  every  bank  or 
banking  company  shall  be  individually  liable  to 
an  amount  over  and  above  their  stock  equal  to 
their  respective  shares  of  stock  for  all  debts  and 
liabilities  of  said  bank  or  banking  company. 

SEC.  4.  All  bills  or  notes  issued  as  money  shall 
be  at  all  times  redeemable  in  gold  or  silver  ;  and 
no  law  shall  be  passed  sanctioning,  directly  or 
indirectly,  the  suspension  by  any  bank  or  bank 
ing  company  of  specie  payments. 

SEC.  5.  Holders  of  bank  notes  shall  be  entitled, 
in  case  of  insolvency,  to  preference  of  specie 
payment  over  all  other  creditors. 

SKC.  6.  No  bank  shall  receive,  directly  or  in 
directly,  a  greater  rate  of  interest  than  shall  be 
allowed  by  law  to  individuals  loaning  money. 

SEC.  7.  Every  bank  or  banking  company  shall 
be  required  to  cease  all  banking  operations 
within  twenty  years  from  the  time  of  its  organi 
zation,  and  promptly  thereafter  to  close  its  busi 
ness. 

SEC.  8.  The  State  shall  not  be  a  stockholder 
in  any  bank  or  banking  institution. 

SKC.  9.  All  banks  shall  be  required  to  keep 
offices  and  proper  officers  for  the  issue  and  re 
demption  of  their  paper  at  some  accessible  and 
convenient  point  within  the  State. 

SEC.  10.  The  said  Banking  law  shall  contain 
a  provision  reserving  the  power  to  alter,  amend, 
or  repeal  said  law. 

SEC.  11.  At  the  time  of  submitting  this  Consti 
tution  to  the  electors  for  their  approval  or  dis 
approval,  the  articles  numbered  in  relation  to  a 
General  Banking  Law  shall  be  submitted  as  a 
distinct  proposition  in  the  following  form:  Gen 
eral  Banking  Law  ;  Yes,  or  No ;  and  if  a  majority 
of  the  votes  cast  shall  be  in  favor  of  said  article, 
then  the  same  shall  form  a  part  of  this  Constitu 
tion  ;  otherwise  it  shall  be  void  and  form  no  part 
thereof. 


SCHEDULE. 

In  order  that  no  inconvenience  may  arise  from 
the  organization  and  establishment  of  a  State 
Government,  and  that  the  wishes  of  the  people 
may  be  fully  accomplished,  it  is  declared  : 

First :  That  no  existing  rights,  suits,  prosecu 
tions,  claims,  and  contracts  shall  be  affected  by 
a  change  in  the  form  of  Government. 

Second  :  That  this  Constitution  shall  be  sub 
mitted  to  the  people  of  Kansas  for  ratification  on 
the  15th  day  of  December  next. 

Third :  That  each  qualified  elector  shall  ex 
press  his  assent  or  dissent  to  the  Constitution  by 
voting  a  written  or  printed  ticket  labeled  "  Con 
stitution"  or  "  No  Constitution/'  which  election 
shall  be  held  by  the  same  Judges,  and  conducted 
under  the  same  regulations  and  restrictions  as  is 
hereinafter  provided  for  the  election  of  Members 
of  the  General  Assembly,  and  the  Judges  therein 
named  shall,  within  ten  days  after  said  election, 
seal  up  and  transmit  to  the  Chairman  of  the  Exe 
cutive  Committee  of  Kansas  Territory  the  re- 
Bult  of  said  election,  who  shall  forthwith  make 


proclamation  of  the  same ;  and  in  case  the  Con 
stitution  be  ratified  by  the  people,  the  Chairman 
of  the  Executive  Committee  shall  cause  publica 
tion  to  be  made  by  proclamation  that  an  election 
will  be  held  on  the  third  Tuesday  of  January, 
A.D.  185G,  for  Governor,  Lieutenant-Governor, 
Secretary  of  State,  Treasurer,  Auditor,  Judges 
of  the  Supreme  Court,  State  Printer,  Attorney- 
General,  Iteporter  of  the  Supreme  Court,  Clerk 
of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  Members  of  the  Gene 
ral  Assembly,  which  said  election  shall  be  held 
by  the  same  Judges,  under  the  same  restrictions, 
and  conducted  in  the  same  manner  as  is  herein 
after  provided  for  the  election  of  Members  of  the 
General  Assembly  ;  and  the  Judges  herein  named 
are  hereby  required,  within  ten  days  after  said 
election,  to  seal  up  and  transmit  duplicate  copies 
of  the  returns  of  said  election  to  the  Chairman 
of  the  Executive  Committee,  one  of  which  shall 
be  laid  before  the  General  Assembly  at  its  first 
meeting. 

Fourth :  At  the  same  time  and  place,  the  quali 
fied  voters  shall,  under  the  same  regulations  and 
restrictions,  elect  a  Member  of  Congress  to  rep 
resent  the  State  of  Kansas  in  the  XXXIVth 
Congress  of  the  United  States;  the  returns  of 
said  election  to  be  made  to  the  Chairman  of  the 
Executive  Committee,  who  shall  deposit  the 
same  in  the  office  of  the  Secretary  of  State  as 
soon  as  he  shall  enter  upon  the  discharge  of  the 
duties  of  his  office. 

Fifth :  The  General  Assembly  shall  meet  on 
the  fourth  day  of  March,  A.  B.  1856,  at  the  City 
of  Topeka,  at  12  M.,  at  which  time  and  place  the 
Governor,  Lieutenant-Governor,  Secretary  of 
State,  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court,  Treasurer, 
Auditor,  State  Printer,  Reporter  and  Clerk  of  the 
Supreme  Court,  and  Attorney-General  shall  ap 
pear,  take  the  oath  of  office,  and  enter  upon  the 
discharge  of  the  duties  of  their  respective  offices 
under  this  Constitution,  and  shall  continue  in  of 
fice  in  the  same  manner  and  during  the  same 
period  they  would  have  done  had  they  been 
elected  on  the  first  Monday  of  August,  A.  p.  1856. 

[The  Constitution  then  goes  on  to  give  the 
boundaries  of  the  Eighteen  Election-Districts  into 
which  the  State  is  to  be  divided,  to  apportion  the 
Senators  and  Representatives,  and  to  appoint 
the  voting  places  and  the  Judges  of  election. 
We  subjoin  the  concluding  sections  :] 

INSTRUCTION  TO  JUDGES. 

SEC.  7.  The  three  Judges  will  provide  for  each 
poll  ballot-boxes  for  depositing  the  ballots  cast 
by  electors ;  shall  appoint  two  clerks,  all  of  whom 
shall  be  sworn  or  affirmed  to  discharge  the  du 
ties  of  their  respective  offices  impartially  and 
with  fidelity ;  and  the  Judges  and  Clerks  shall 
have  power  to  administer  the  oath  or  affirmation 
to  each  other ;  and  the  said  Judges  shall  open 
said  election  at  9  o'clock  A.  M.,  at  the  place  desig 
nated  in  each  precinct,  and  close  the  same  at  6 
o'clock  P.  M.  In  case  any  of  the  officers  ap 
pointed  fail  to  attend,  the  officer  or  officers  in  at 
tendance  shall  supply  their  places,  and  in  the 
event  of  all  of  them  failing  to  attend  the  quali 
fied  voters  shall  supply  their  places,  and  the  said 
Judges  shall  make  out  duplicate  returns  of  said 
election,  seal  up  and  transmit  the  same  within 
ten  days  to  the  Chairman  of  the  Executive  Com 
mittee,  one  copy  of  which  is  to  be  laid  before 
the  Geniral  Assembly.  If  at  the  time  of  holding 
said  election  it  shall  be  inconvenient,  from  any 
cause  whatever,  that  would  disturb  or  prevent 
the  voters  of  any  election-precinct  in  the  Terri- 
tory  from  the  free  and  peaceable  exercise  of  the 
elective  franchise,  the  officers  are  hereby  au 
thorized  to  adjourn  said  election  into  any  other 
precinct  in  the  Territory,  and  to  any  other  day 
they  may  see  proper,  of  the  necessity  of  which 
they  shall  be  the  exclusive  judges,  a.t  which 


156 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  SLAVERY  RESTRICTION. 


time  and  place  the  qualified  voters  may  cast 
their  votes. 

SEC.  8.  Until  otherwise  provided  by  law,  the 
Chairman  of  the  Executive  Commitee  of  Kansas 
Territory  shall  announce  by  proclamation  the 
result  of  the  elections  and  the  names  of  persons 
elected  to  office. 

SEC.  9.  No  person  shall  be  entitled  to  a  seat 
in  the  first  General  Assembly  at  its  organization 
except  the  members  whose  names  are  contained 
in  the  proclamation  of  the  Chairman  of  the  Exe 
cutive  Committee;  but  after  the  General  As 
sembly  is  organized  seats  may  be  contested  in 
the  usual  way. 

SEC.  10.  Certificates  of  indebtedness  maybe 
issued  by  the  Territorial  Executive  Committee, 
for  all  necessary  expenses  accruing  in  the  forma 
tion  of  the  State  Government,  not  exceeding 
$25,000 ;  provided  no  certificates  shall  be  issued 
except  for  legitimate  expenses.  All  claims  shall 
be  made  in  writing,  and  shall  be  numbered  and 
kept  on  file  in  the  Secretary's  office,  and  all  cer 
tificates  of  indebtedness  shall  be  signed  by  the 
President  and  Secretary,  and  countersigned  by 
the  Treasurer  and  numbered  to  correspond  with 
the  numbers  of  the  claim' or  bill  for  which  it  was 
issued.  The  certificate  shall  bear  ten  per  cent, 
interest  per  annum. 

SEC.  11.  The  first  General  Assembly  shall  pro 
vide  by  law  for  the  redemption  of  the  certifi 
cates  of  indebtedness  issued  under  the  provisions 
of  the  foregoing  section. 

SEC.  12.  Until  the  great  seal  of  the  State  of 
Kansas  is  agreed  upon  and  procured,  as  provi 
ded  for  in  the  eleventh  section  of  the  fifth  article 
of  this  Constitution,  the  Governor  shall  use  his 
own  private  seal  as  the  Seal  of  State. 

SEC.  13.  At  the  election  for  the  ratification  of 
this  Constitution,  and  the  first  election  for  State 
officers,  a  representation  in  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States  and  members  of  the  General  As 
sembly  of  this  State,  an  actual  residence  in  the 
Territory  of  thirty  days  immediately  preceding 
said  election  shall  be  sufficient  as  a  qualifica 
tion  for  the  elector ;  and  an  actual  residence  of 
ninety  days  for  the  candidates,  provided  said 
election  and  candidates  possess  all  the  other 
qualifications  required  by  the  provisions  of  this 
Constitution. 

SEC.  14.  The  first  Legislature  shall  provide  by 
law  for  the  enforcement  of  the  provisions  of  the 
6th  section  of  the  Bill  of  Rights  on  or  before  the 
4th  day  of  July,  1857,  as  to  all  persons  in  the 
Territory  before  the  adoption  of  this  Constitu- 
tin,  and  as  to  all  others,  the  provisions  of  said 
section  shall  operate  from  and  after  the  ratifica 
tion  of  this  Constitution  by  the  people. 

ROBERT  KLOTZ,  W.  GRAHAM, 

M.  J.  PARROTT,  MORRIS  HUNT, 

M.  W.  DELAHAY,  J.  H.  NESB1TT, 

W.  R.  GRIFFITH,  C    K   HOLLIDAY, 

G.  S.  HILLYER,  DAVID  DODGR, 

WM.  HICKS,  J.  A.  WAKEFIELD, 

S.  N.  LAT  r A.  W.  Y.  ROBERTS, 

JOHN  LANDIS,  G.  W.  SMITH, 

H.  BURSON.  J.  G.  THOMPSON. 

C.  W.  STEWART,  G.  A.  CUTLER, 

J.  M.  ARTHUR,  J.  K.  GOODIN. 

J.  L.  SAYLE,  J.  M.  TUTUN, 

CALEB  MAY,  THOMAS  BELL, 

S.  MEWHINY,  R.  H.  CROSBY. 

A.  OURTISS,  P.  C.  80HUYLER, 

A.  HUNTING,  C.  ROBINSON. 

R.  KNIGHT,  M.  P.  CONWA  Y, 

0.  C.  BROWN,  J.  S.  EMKRY, 

J.  H.  LANE,  President. 

BAM.  C.  SMITH.  Secretary, 

CHARLES  A.  FOSTER,  Assistant  Secretary. 

June  3(M. — Mr.  Douglas  reported  to  the 
Senate  on  several  bills  submitted  by  Messrs. 
Clayton,  Toombs,  and  others,  for  the  pacifi 


cation  of  the  Kansas  troubles,  as  also  de 
cidedly  against  Gov.  Seward's  proposition 
to  admit  Kansas  as  a  Free  State,  under  her 
Topeka  Constitution.  Mr.  Collamer,  being 
the  minority  of  the  Territorial  Committee, 
made  a  brief  and  pungent  counter-report. 
Mr.  Douglas  gave  notice  that  he  would  ask 
for  a  final  vote  on  the  day  after  the  next. 

July  1st.  —  Bill  debated  by  Messrs. 
Thompson  of  Ky.,  Hale  of  N.  H.,  Bigler  of 
Pa.,  Adams  of  Miss.,  and  Crittenden  of 

Ky- 

July  Id. — Debate  continued  through  the 
day  and  following  night,  the  majority  re 
sisting  all  motions  to  adjourn.  Messrs. 
Wade,  Pugh,  Biggs,  Bigler,  Toombs,  Clay 
ton,  Crittenden,  Bell,  Seward,  Hale,  and 
nearly  half  the  Senate  participated.  An 
amendment  moved  by  Mr.  Adams  of  Miss., 
the  day  before,  striking  out  so  much  of  the 
bill  as  secures  the  Right  of  Suffrage,  in  the 
proposed  reorganization  of  Kansas,  to  alien 
residents  who  shall  have  declared  their  in 
tention  to  become  citizens,  and  renounced 
all  allegiance  to  foreign  governments,  was 
adopted  :  Yeas  22  ;  Nays  16,  as  follows  : 

YEAS — Messrs.  Adams  and  Brown  of  Miss., 
Bayard  and  Clayton  of  Del ,  Biggs  and  Reid  of 
N.  C.,  John  Bell  of  Term.,  Brodhead  of  Penn., 
C.  C.  Clay  and  Fitzpatriek  of  Ala.,  Collamer 
and  Foot  of  Vt.,  Crittenden  and  J.  B.  Thompson 
of  Ky.,  Fessenden  of  Maine,  Foster  of  Conn., 
Geyer  of  Mo.,  Hunter  and  Mason  of  Va.,  Iverson 
of  Ga.,  Mallory  and  Yulee  of  Fla.— 22. 

NAYS— Messrs.  Allen  of  K.  L,  Bigler  of  Pa., 
Butler  and  Evans  of  S.  C.,  Bright  of  Ind.,  Cass 
of  Mich.,  Dodge  of  Wise.,  Douglas  of  Hi.,, Tones 
of  Iowa,  Pugh  of  Ohio,  Seward  of  N.  Y.,  Slidell 
of  La.,  Toombs  of  Ga.,  Weller  of  Cal.,  Wilson 
of  Mass.,  Wright  of  N.  J.— 16. 

Sometime  in  the  morning  of  July  3rd,  the 
following  amendment,  reduced  to  shape  by 
Mr.  Geyer  of  Mo.,  was  added  to  the  18th 
section  of  the  bill — only  Brown  of  Miss., 
Fitzpatriek  of  Ala.,  and  Mason  of  Va., 
voting  against  it :  Yeas  40.  It  provides 
that 

"  No  law  shall  be  made  or  have  force  or  effect 
in  said  Territory  [of  Kansas]  which  t>hall  require 
any  attestation  or  oath  to  support  any  act  of  Con 
gress  or  other  legislative  act,  as  a  qualification  for 
any  civil  office,  public  trust,  or  for  any  employ 
ment  or  profession,  or  to  serve  as  a  juror,  or  vote 
at  an  election,  or  which_  shall  impose  any  tax 
upon,  or  condition  to,  the  exercise  of  the  right  of 
suffrage,  by  any  qualified  voter,  or  which  shall 
restrain  or  prohibit  the  free  discussion  of  any 
law  or  subject  of  legislation  in  the  said  Territory, 
or  the  free  expression  of  opinion  thereon  by  the 
people  of  said  Territory." 

An  amendment  proposed  by  Mr.  Clayton, 
to  the  same  effect  as  the  above,  but  rather 
more  comprehensive  in  its  terms,  was  super 
seded  by  the  adoption  of  the  foregoing,  by 
a  party  vote :  Yeas  34 ;  Nays  11  [Free- 
State  men] . 

Mr.  Trumbull  of  111.  moved  the  follow 
ing : 

"  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  it  was  the 
true  intent  and  meaning  of  the  '  act  to  organize 


THE  KANSAS-NEBRASKA  STRUGGLE. 


157 


the  Territories  of  Nebraska  and  Kansas,'  not  t< 
legislate  slavery  into  Kansas,  nor  to  exclude  i 
therefrom,  but  to  leave  the  people  thereof  per 
fectly  free  through  their  Territorial  Legislature 
to  regulate  the  institution  of  slavery  in  thei 
own  way,  subject  only  to  the  Constitution  ol 
the  United  States,  and  that,  until  the  Territoria 
Legislature  acts  upon  the  subject,  the  owner  ol 
a  slave  in  one  of  the  States  has  no  right  or  au 
thority  to  take  such  slave  into  the  Territory  oi 
Kansas,  and  there  hold  him  as  a  slave ;  bu 
every  slave  taken  to  the  Territory  of  Kansas 
by  his  owner  for  purposes  of  settlement  is  here 
by  declared  to  be  free,  unless  there  is  some  valic 
act  of  a  duly,  constituted  Legislative  Assembly 
of  said  Territory,  under  which  he  may  be  helc 
as  a  slave." 

The  Yeas  and  Nays  being  ordered,  th< 
proposition  was  voted  down — Yeas  9 
Nays  34 — as  follows  : 

YEAS — Messrs  Durkee,  Fessenden,  Foot 
Foster,  Hale,  Seward,  Trumbull,  Wade,  and 
Wilson— 9.  ' 

NAYS — Messrs.  Adams,  Allen.  Bayard,  Bel 
of  Tennessee,  Benjamin,  Biggs,  Bigler.  Bright 
Brodhead,  Brown,  Cass,  Clay,  Crittenden 
Dodge,  Douglas,  Evans,  Fitzpatrick,  Geyer, 
Hunter,  Iverson,  Johnson,  Jones  of  Iowa.  Mallo- 
ry,  Pratt,  Pugh,  Reid,  Sebastian,  Slidell,  Thomp 
son  of  Kentucky,  Toombs,  Toucey,  Weller, 
Wright,  and  Yulee— 34. 

Mr.  Trumbull  then  proposed  the  follow 
ing  : 

"  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  the  provi 
sion  in  the  '  act  to  organize  the  Territories  of 
Nebraska  and  Kansas,'  which  declares  it  to  be 
'  the  true  intent  and  meaning'  of  said  act '  not  to 
legislate  slavery  into  any  Territory  or  State,  nor 
to  exclude  it  therefrom,  but  to  leave  the  people 
thereof  perfectly  free  to  form  and  regulate  their 
domestic  institutions  in  their  own  way,  subject 
only  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,' 
was  intended  to,  and  does,  confer  upon,  or  leave 
to,  the  people  of  the  Territory  of  Kansas  full 

Cower,  at  any  time,  through  its  Territorial  Legis- 
iture,  to  exclude  slavery  from  said  Territory  or 
to  recognize  and  regulate  it  therein." 

This,  too,  was  voted  down,  as  follows  : 
YEAS— Messrs.   Allen,  Bell  of  New-Hamp 
shire,  Collamer,  Durkee,  Fessenden,  Foot,  Fos 
ter,  Hale,  Seward,  Trumbull,  and  Wade— 11. 

NAYS— Messrs.  Adams,  Bayard,  Benjamin, 
Biggs,  Bigler,  Bright,  Brodhead,  Brown,  Cass, 
Clay,  Crittenden,  Dodge,  Douglas,  Evans,  Fitz 
patrick,  Geyer,  Hunter,  Iverson,  Johnson,  Jones 
of  Iowa,  Mattery,  Mason,  Pratt,  Pugh,  Reid,  Se 
bastian,  Slidell,  Stuart,  Thompson  of  Kentucky, 
Toombs,  Toucey,  Weller,  Wright,  and  Yulee — 

Mr.  Trumbull  then  proposed  the  follow 
ing  : 

And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  all  the  acts 
and  proceedings  of  all  and  every  body  of  men 
heretofore  assembled  in  said  Territory  of  Kan 
sas,  and  claiming  to  be  a  Legislative  Assembly 
thereof,  with  authority  to  pass  laws  for  the  gov 
ernment  of  said  Territory,  are  hereby  declared 
to  be  utterly  null  and  void.  And  no  person  shall 
hold  any  office,  or  exercise  any  authority  or  ju 
risdiction  in  said  Territory,  under  or  by  virtue 
of  any  power  or  authority  derived  from  such 
Legislative  Assembly;  nor  shall  the  members 
thereof  exercise  any  power  or  authority  as  such. 

This,  too,  was  voted  down,  as  follows  : 
YEAS— Messrs.  Bell  of  New-Hampshire,  Col-  i 


lamer,  Durkee,  Fessenden,  Foot,  Foster,  Hale 
Seward,  Trumbull,  Wade,  and  Wilson— 11. 

NAYS — Messrs.  Adams,  Allen,  Bayard,  Bell 
of  Tennessee,  Benjamin,  Biggs,  Bigler,  Bright, 
Brodhead,  Brown,  Cass,  Clay,  Crittenden, 
Dodge,  Douglas,  Evans,  Fitzpatrick,  Geyer, 
Hunter,  Iverson,  Johnson,  Jones  of  Iowa,  Mai- 
lory,  Mason,  Pratt,  Pugh,  Reid,  Sebastian,  Sli 
dell,  Stuart,  Thompson  of  Kentucky,  Toombs, 
Toucey,  Weller,  Wright,  and  Yulee— 36. 

Mr.  Foster  of  Conn,  moved  the  following 
amendment : 

"SEC.  — .  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That,  un 
til  the  inhabitants  of  said  Territory  shall  proceed 
to  hold  a  convention  to  form  a  State  constitu 
tion  according  to  the  provisions  of  this  act,  and 
so  long  as  said  Territory  remains  a  Territory, 
the  following  sections  contained  in  chapter  one 
hundred  and  fifty-one,  in  the  volume  transmitted 
to  the  Senate  by  the  President  of  the  United 
States,  as  containing  the  laws  of  Kansas,  be,  and 
the  same  are  hereby,  declared  to  be  utterly  null 
and  void,  viz. : 

"  'SEC.  12.  If  any  free  person,  by  speaking  or  by  writ 
ing,  assert  or  maintain  that  persons  have  not  the 
rijfht  to  hold  s'aves  in  this  Territory,  or  shall  intro 
duce  into  this  Territory  any  book,  paper,  magazine, 
pamphlet,  or  circular,  containing  any  denial  of  the 
right  of  persons  to  hold  slaves  in  thi-  Territory,  such 
persons  shall  be  d-  emed  guilty  of  felony,  and  punish 
ed  by  imprisonment  at  hard  labor  for  a  term  of  not 
less  than  two  years. 

"  •  SEC.  13.  No  persouwho  is  conscientiously  opposed 
to  holding  slaves,  or  who  does  not  admit  the-  right  to 
hold  slaves  in  this  Territory,  shall  sit  as  a  juror  on 
the  trial  of  any  pr  secution  for  the  violation  of  any 
one  of  the  sections  of  this  act.'  " 

This  was  rejected  [as  superfluous,  or 
covered  by  a  former  amendment,]  as  fol 
lows  : 

YEAS— Messrs.  Allen,  Bell  of  New-Hamp 
shire,  Clayton,  Collamer,  Durkee,  Fessenden, 
Foot,  Foster,  Hale,  Seward,  Trumbull,  Wade, 
and  Wilson— 13. 

NAYS — Messrs.  Bayard,  Benjamin,  Bigga, 
Bigler,  Bright,  Brodhead,  Brown,  Cass,  Clay, 
Dodge,  Douglas,  Evans,  Fitzpatrick,  Geyer, 
Hunter,  Iverson,  Johnson,  Jones  of  Iowa,  Mal 
ory,  Mason,  Pratt,  Pugh,  Reid,  Sebastian,  Sli 
dell,  Stuart,  Thompson  of  Kentucky,  Toombs, 
Toucey,  Weller,  Wright,  and  Yulee— 32. 

Mr.  Collamer  of  Yt.  proposed  the  follow- 
ng: 

And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  until  the  peo 
ple  of  said 'Territory  shall  form  a  constitution 
nd  State  government,  and  be  admitted  into  the 
Jnion  under  the  provisions  of  this  act,  there 
ihall  be  neither  slavery  nor  involuntary  servi- 
ude  in  said  Territory,  otherwise  than  in  punish- 
nent  of  crimes  whereof  the  party  shall  have 
>een  duly  convicted:  Provided  always,  That 
my  person  escaping  into  the  same,  from  whom 
abor  or  service  is  lawfully  claimed  in  any  State, 
uch  fugitive  may  be  lawfully  reclaimed  and 
onveyed  to  the  person  claiming  his  or  her  ser 
vice  or  labor  as  aforesaid. 

This  was  voted  down  as  follows  : 

YEAS— Messrs.  Bell  of  New-Hampshire,  Col- 
amer,  Fessenden,  Foot,  Foster,  Hale,  Seward, 

rumbull,  Wade,  and  Wilson— 10. 

NAYS— Messrs.  Bayard,  Bell  of  Tennessee, 
benjamin,  Biggs,  Bigler,  Bright,  Brodhead, 
Jrown,  Cass,  Clay,  Clayton,  Crittenden,  Dodge, 
)ouglas,  Evans,' Fitzpatrick,  Geyer,  Hunter, 
verson,  Johnson,  Jones  of  Iowa,  Mallory,  Ma- 
on,  Pratt,  Pugh,  Reid,  Sebastian,  Slidell,  Stuart, 
Thompson  of  Kentucky,  Toombs,  Toucey,  Wel- 
er,  Wright,  and  Yulee— 35. 


158 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  SLAVERY  RESTRICTION. 


Mr.  "Wilson  of  Mass,  moved  that  the 
whole  bill  be  stricken  out  and  another  in 
serted  instead,  repealing  all  the  Territorial 
laws  of  Kansas. 

Rejected  :  Yeas  8,  (Bell  of  N.  H.,  Colla- 
mer,  Durkee,  Fessenden,  Foster,  Seward, 
Wade  and  Wilson  ;)  Nays  35. 

Mr.  Seward  moved  to  strike  out  the  whole 
bill,  and  insert  instead  one  admitting  Kan 
sas  as  a  Free  State,  under  the  Topeka  Con 
stitution  :  Defeated— Yeas  11  ;  Nays  36— 
as  follows : 

YEAS— Messrs.  Bell  of  New  Hampshire,  Col- 
lamer,  Durkee,  Fessenden,  Foot,  Foster,  Hale, 
Seward,  Trumbull,  Wade,  and  Wilson— 11. 

NAYS— Messrs.  Allen,  Bayard,  Bell  of  Ten 
nessee,  Benjamin,  Biggs,  Bigler,  Bright,  Brod- 
head,  Brown,  Cass,  Clay,  Clayton,  Crittenden, 
Dodge,  Douglas,  Evans,  Fitzpatrick,  Greyer, 
Hunter,  Iveraon,  Johnson,  Jones  of  Iowa,  Mai- 
lory,  Mason,  Pratt,  Pugh,  Held,  Sebastian,  Sli- 
dell,  Stuart,  Thompson  of  Kentucky,  Toombs, 
Toucey,  Weller,  Wright,  and  Yulee— 36. 

The  bill  was  now  reported  as  amended, 
and  the  amendment  made  in  Committee  of 
the  Whole  concurred  in.  The  bill  was 
then  (8  A.  M.)  ordered  to  be  engrossed  and 
read  a  third  time ;  and,  on  the  question  of 
its  final  passage,  the  vote  stood — Yeas  33  ; 
Nays  12 — as  follows  : 

YEAS— Messrs.  Allen,  Bayard,  Bell  of  Ten 
nessee,  Benjamin,  Biggs,  Bigler,  Bright,  Brod- 
head,  Brown,  Cass,  Clay,  Cnttenden,  Douglas, 
Evans,  Fitzpatrick,  Geyer,  Hunter,  Iverson, 
Johnson,  Jones  of  Iowa,  Mallory,  Pratt,  Pugh, 
Reid,  Sebastian,  Slidell,  Stuart,  Thompson  of 
Kentucky,  Toombs,  Toucey,  Weller,  Wright, 
and  Yulee— 33. 

NAYS— Messrs.  Bell  of  New-Hampshire,  Col- 
lamer,  Dodge,  Durkee,  Fessenden,  Foot,  Fos 
ter,  Hale,  Seward,  Trumbull,  Wade,  and  Wilson 

The  bill  was  then  sent  to  the  House  in 
the  following  shape  : 

AN  ACT 

To  authorize  the  people  of  the  Territory  of  Kansas  to 
form  a  constitution  and  State  government  prepara 
tory  to  their  admission  into  the  Union  on  an  equal 
footing  with  the  original  States. 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Rep 
resentatives  of  the  United  States  of  America  in 
Congress  assembled,  That,  for  the  purpose  of 
making  an  enumeration  of  the  inhabitants,  au 
thorized  to  vote  under  the  provisions  of  this  act, 
an  apportionment  and  an  election  of  members  of 
a  convention  to  form  a  State  constitution  for 
Kansas,  as  hereinafter  provided,  five  competent 
persons  shall  be  appointed  by  the  President,  by 
and  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate, 
to  be  commissioners,  a  majority  of  whom  shall 
constitute  a  quorum  for  the  purpose  of  carrying 
into  effect  the  provisions  of  this  act,  each  of 
whom,  before  entering  upon  the  duties  of  his 
office,  shall  take  and  subscribe  an  oath  or  affirma 
tion  that  he  will  support  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  and  faithfully  and  impartially  ex 
ercise  and  discharge  the  duties  enjoined  on  him 
by  this  act,  according  to  the  best  of  his  skill  and 
judgment,  which  oath  or  affirmation  shall  be  ad- 
minutered  ^to  them  severally,  and  be  duly  certi 
fied  by  a  judge,  clerk,  or  commissioner  of  a 
court  of  the  United  States,  and  filed  and  recorded 
in  the  office  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Territory  of 
Kansas. 


SEC.  2.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  it  shall 
be  the  duty  of  said  commissioners,  under  such 
regulations  as  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  may 
prescribe,  to  cause  to  be  made  a  full  and  faithful 
enumeration  of  the  legal  voters  resident  in  each 
county  in  the  said  Territory  on  the  fourth  day  of 
July,  eighteen  hundred  and  fifty-six,  and  make 
returns  thereof  during  the  month  of  August  next, 
or  as  soon  thereafter  as  practicable,  one  of  which 
returns  shall  be  made  to  the  office  of  the  Secretary 
of  the  Interior,  and  one  to  the  secretary  of  the 
Territory  of  Kansas,  and  which  shall  also  exhibit 
the  names  of  all  such  legal  voters,  classed  in 
such  manner  as  shah1  be  prescribed  by  the  regu 
lations  of  the  Secretary  of  the  interior. 

SEC.  3.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  it  shall 
be  the  duty  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  im 
mediately  after  the  passage  of  this  act,  to  pre 
scribe  regulations  and  forms  to  be  observed  in 
making  the  enumeration  aforesaid,  and  to  furnish 
the  same  with  all  necessary  blanks  to  each  of  the 
commissioners  as  soon  as  may  be  after  their  ap 
pointment  ;  and  the  commissioners  shall  meet 
without  delay  at  the  seat  of  government  of  Kan 
sas  Territory,  and  proceed  to  the  discharge  of 
the  duties  herein  imposed  upon  them,  and  ap 
point  a  secretary  to  the  board  and  such  other 
persons  as  shall  be  necessary  to  aid  and  assist 
them  in  taking  the  enumeration  herein  provided 
for,  who  must  also  be  duly  sworn  faithfully,  im 
partially,  and  truly  to  discharge  the  duties  as 
signed  them  by  the  commissioners. 

SEC.  4.  And  be  it  furt/ier  enacted,  That  said 
board  of  commissioners  shall,  so  soon  as  said 
census  shall  be  completed  and  returns  made, 
proceed  to  make  an  apportionment  of  the  mem 
bers  for  a  convention,  among  the  different  coun 
ties  in  said  Territory,  in  the  following  manner: 
The  whole  number  of  legal  voters  shall  be  divid 
ed  by  fifty-two,  and  the  product  of  such  division, 
rejecting  any  fraction  of  a  unit,  shall  be  the  ratio 
or  rule  of  apportionment  of  members  among  the 
several  counties ;  and  if  any  county  shall  not 
have  a  number  of  legal  voters,  thus  ascertained, 
equal  to  the  ratio,  it  shall  be  attached  to  some 
adjoining  county,  and  thus  form  a  representative 
district,  the  number  of  said  voters  in  each  coun 
ty  or  district  shall  then  be  divided  by  the  ratio, 
and  the  product  shall  be  the  number  of  representa 
tives  apportioned  to  such  county  or  district: 
Provided,  That  the  loss  in  the  number  of  mem 
bers  caused  by  the  fractions  remaining  in  the 
several  counties,  in  the  division  of  the  legal 
voters  thereof,  shall  be  compensated  by  assign 
ing  to  so  many  counties  as  have  the  largest 
fractions  an  additional  member  for  its  fraction, 
as  may  be  necessary  to  make  the  whole  number 
of  representatives  fifty-two. 

SEC.  5.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  the 
said  board,  immediately  after  the  apportionment 
of  the  members  of  said  convention,  shall  cause 
a  sufficient  number  of  copies  thereof  and  of  the 
returns  of  the  census  (specifying  the  name  of 
each  legal  voter  in  each  county  or  district)  to  be 
published  and  distributed  among  the  inhabitants 
of  the  several  counties,  and  shall  transmit  one 
copy  of  the  said  apportionment  and  census,  duly 
authenticated  by  them,  to  each  clerk  of  a  court 
of  record  within  the  Territory,  who  shall  file  the 
same,  and  keep  open  to  the  inspection  of  every 
inhabitant  who  shall  desire  to  examine  it,  and 
shall  also  cause  other  copies  to  be  posted  up  in 
at  least  three  of  the  most  public  places  in  each 
voting  precinct,  to  the  end  that  every  inhabitant 
may  inspect  the  same,  and  anply  to  the  board  to 
correct  any  error  he  may  find  therein,  in  the 
manner  hereinafter  provided. 

SEC.  6.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  said 
board  shall  remain  in  session  each  day,  Sundays 
excepted,  from  the  time  of  making  said  appor 
tionment  until  the  twentieth  day  of  October 


THE  KANSAS-NEBRASKA   STRUGGLE. 


159 


next,  at  such  places  as  shall  be  most  convenient 
to  the  inhabitants  of  said  Territory,  and  shall 
proceed  to  the  inspection  of  said  returns,  and 
hear,  correct,  and  finally  determine  according  to 
the  facts,  without  unreasonable  delay,  under 
proper  regulations  to  be  made  by  the  board,  for 
the  ascertainment  of  disputed  facts  concerning 
said  enumeration,  all  questions  concerning  the 
omission  of  any  person  from  said  returns,  or  the 
improper  insertion  of  any  name  on  said  returns, 
and  any  other  question  affecting  the  integrity  or 
fidelity  of  said  returns,  and  for  this  purpose  the 
said  board  and  each  member  thereof  shall  have 
power  to  administer  oaths  and  examine  wit 
nesses,  and  compel  their  attendance  in  such 
manner  as  said  board  shall  deem  necessary. 

SEC.  7.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  as 
soon  as  the  said  lists  of  legal  voters  shall  thus 
have  been  revised  and  corrected,  it  shall  be  the 
duty  of  said  board  to  cause  copies  thereof  to  be 
printed  and  distributed  generally  among  the  in 
habitants  of  the  proposed  State,  and  one  copy 
shall  be  deposited  with  the  clerk  of  each  court  of 
record  within  the  limits  of  the  proposed  State, 
and  one  copy  delivered  to  each  judge  of  the 
election,  and  at  least  three  copies  shall  be  posted 
up  at  each  place  of  voting. 

SEC.  8.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  an 
election  shall  be  held  for  members  of  a  conven 
tion  to  form  a  constitution  for  the  State  of  Kan 
sas,  according  to  the  apportionment  to  be  made 
aforesaid,  on  the  first  Tuesday  after  the  first 
Monday  in  November,  eighteen  hundred  and 
fifty-six,  to  be  held  at  such  places  and  to  be  con 
ducted  in  such  manner,  both  as  to  persons  who 
shall  superintend  such  election  and  the  returns 
thereof  as  the  board  of  commissioners  shall  ap 
point  and  direct,  except  in  cases  by  this  act 
otherwise  provided  ;  and  at  such  election  no  per 
son  shall  be  permitted  to  vote  unless  his  name 
shall  appear  on  said  corrected  lists. 

SEC.  9.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  the 
board  of  commissioners  shall  have  power,  and  it 
shall  be  their  duty,  to  make  all  needful  rules  and 
regulations  for  the  conduct  of  the  said  election 
and  the  returns  thereof.  They  shall  appoint 
three  suitable  persons  to  be  judges  of  the  elec 
tion  at  each  place  of  voting,  and  prescribe  the 
mode  of  supplying  vacancies.  They  shall  cause 
copies  of  the  rules  and  regulations,  with  a  notice 
of  the  places  of  holding  elections  and  the  names 
of  the  judges,  to  be  published  and  distributed  in 
every  election-district  or  precinct  ten  days  be 
fore  the  day  of  election,  and  shall  transmit  a  copy 
thereof  to  the  clerk  of  each  court  of  record,  and 
one  copy  to  each  judge  of  election. 

SEC.  10.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  the 
judges  of  election  shall  each,  before  entering  on 
the  discharge  of  his  duties,  make  oath  or  affirma 
tion  that  he  will  faithfully  and  impartially  dis 
charge  the  duties  of  judge  of  the  election  accord 
ing  to  law,  which  oath  may  be  administered  by 
any  officer  authorized  by  law  to  administer 
oaths.  The  clerks  of  election  shall  be  appointed 
by  the  judges,  and  shall  take  the  like  oath  or 
affirmation,  to  be  administered  by  one  of  the 
judges  or  by  any  of  the  officers  aforesaid.  Dupli 
cate  returns  of  election  shall  be  made  and  certi 
fied  by  the  judges  and  clerks,  one  of  which  shall 
be  deposited  in  the  office  of  the  clerk  of  the  tri 
bunal  transacting  county  business  for  the  county 
in  which  the  election  is  held,  and  the  other  shall 
be  transmitted  to  the  board  of  commissioners, 
whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  decide,  under  proper 
regulations  to  be  made  by  themselves,  who  are 
entitled  to  certificates  -of  election,  and  to  issue 
such  certificates  accordingly,  to  the  persons  who, 
npon  examination  of  he  returns  and  of  such 
proofs  as  shall  be  adduced  in  case  of  a  contest, 
shall  appear  to  have  been  duly  elected  in  each 
county  or  district:  Provided,  In  case  of  a  tie  or 


o 

said 


of  a  contest,  in  which  it  cannot  be  satisfactorily 
determined  who  was  duly  elected,  said  commis 
sioners  shall  order  a  new  election  in  like  manner 
as  is  herein  provided.  Upon  the  completion  of 
these  duties  the  said  commissioners  shall  return 
to  Washington,  and  report  then-  proceedings  t 
the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  Avhereupon  sai 
commission  shall  cease  and  determine. 

SEC.  11.  And  be  it.  further  enacted,  That 
every  white  male  citizen  of  the  United  States 
over  twenty-one  years  of  age,  who  may  be  a 
bonajide  inhabitant  of  said  Territory  on  the  fourth 
day  of  July,  eighteen  hundred  and  fifty-six,  and 
who  shall  have  resided  three  months  next  before 
said  election  in  the  county  in  which  he  offers  to 
vote,  and  no  other  persons  •vyhatever  shall  be  en 
titled  to  vote  at  said  election,  and  any  person 
qualified  as  a  voter  may  be  a  delegate  to  said 
convention,  and  no  others  ;  and  all  persons  who 
shall  possess  the  other  qualifications  for  voters 
under  this  act,  and  who  shall  have  been  bona 
fide  inhabitants  of  said  Territory  at  any  time  since 
its  organization,  and  who  shall  have  absented 
themselves  therefrom  in  consequence  of  the  dis 
turbances  therein,  and  who  shall  return  before  the 
first  day  of  October  next  and  become  bona  fide 
inhabitants  of  the  Territory  with  the  intent  of 
making  it  their  permanent  home,  arid  shall  pre 
sent  satisfactory  evidence  of  these  facts  to  the 
board  of  commissioners,  shall  be  entitled  to  vote 
at  said  election,  and  to  have  their  names  placed 
on  said  corrected  list  of  voters  for  that  purpose  ; 
and  to  avoid  all  conflict  in  the  complete  execu 
tion  of  this  act,  all  other  elections  in  said  Terri 
tory  are  hereby  postponed  until  such  time  as  said 
convention  shall  appoint. 

SEC.  12.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  the 
said  commissioners,  and  all  persons  appointed 
by  them  to  assist  in  taking  the  census,  shall 
have  power  to  administer  oaths  and  examine 
persons  on  oath  in  all  cases  where  it  shall  bo 
necessary  to  the  full  and  faithful  performance 
of  their  duties  under  this  act ;  and  the  secretary 
shall  keep  a  journal  of  the  proceedings  of  said 
board,  and  transmit  copies  thereof  from  time  to 
time  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  ;  and  when 
said  commissioners  shall  have  completed  the 
business  of  their  appointment,  the  books  and 
papers  of  the  board  shall  be  deposited  in  the 
office  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Territory  and  there 
kept  as  records  of  his  office. 

SEC.  13.  And  be  it  further  enacted ,  That  if 
any  person  by  menaces,  threats,  or  force,  or  by 
any  other  unlawful  means,  shall  directly  or  in 
directly  attempt  to  influence  any  qualified  voter 
in  giving  his  vote,  or  deter  him  from  going  to 
the  polls,  or  disturb  or  hinder  him  in  the  free 
exercise  of  his  right  of  suffrage  at  said  election, 
the  person  so  offending  shall  be  adjudged  guilty 
of  a  misdemeanor,  and  punished  by  fine  of  not 
less  than  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars,  nor  ex 
ceeding  five  hundred  dollars,  or  by  imprison 
ment  of  not  less  than  three  months,  nor  exceeding 
one  year,  or  by  both. 

SEC.  14.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  every 
person,  not  being  a  qualified  voter  according  to 
the  provisions  of  this  act,  who  shall  vote  at  any 
election  within  the  said  Territory,  knowing  that 
he  is  not  entitled  to  vote,  and  every  person  who 
shall,  at  the  same  election,  vote  more  than  once, 
whether  at  the  same  or  a  different  place,  shall  be 
adjudged  guilty  of  a  misdemeanor,  and  be  punish 
ed  by  fine  of  not  less  than  one  hundred  dollars, 
nor  exceeding  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars;  or 
by  imprisonment  not  less  than  thi'ee  months,  nor 
exceeding  six  months,  or  both. 

SEC.  15.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  any 
person  whatsoever  who  may  be  charged  with 
holding  the  election  herein  authorized,  who  shall 
willfully  and  knowingly  commit  any  fraud  or  ir 
regularity  whatever  ,with  the  intent  it  to  hinder,  or 


160 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  SLAVERY  RESTRICTION. 


prevent,  or  defeat  a  fair  expression  of  the  popu 
lar  will  in  the  said  election,  shall  be  guilty  of  a 
misdemeanor,  and  punished  by  fine  not  leas  than 
five  hundred  dollars,  nor  exceeding  one  thousand 
dollars,  and  imprisonment  not  less  than  six 
mouths,  nor  exceeding  two  years,  or  both,  at 
the  discretion  of  the  court. 

SEC.  16.  Arid  be  it  further  enacted,  That  the 
delegates  thus  elected  shall  assemble  in  conven 
tion  at  the  capitol  of  said  Territory  on  the  first 
Monday  in  December  next;  and  when  so  as 
sembled,  shall  first  determine  by  a  majority  of 
the  whole  number  of  members  elected  whether 
it  be  or  be  not  expedient  at  that  time  to  form  a 
constitution  and  State  government ;  and  if  deem 
ed  expedient,  shall  proceed  to  form  a  constitution 
and  State  government,  which  shall  be  republican 
in  its  form,  for  admission  into  the  Union  on  an 
equal  footing  with  the  original  States  in  all 
respects  whatever,  by  the  name  of  the  State  of 
Kansas,  with  the  following  boundaries,  to  wit : 
beginning  on  the  western  boundary  of  the  State 
of  Missouri,  where  the  thirty-seventh  parallel  of 
north  latitude  crosses  the  same,  then  west  on 
said  parallel  to  the  one  hundred  and  third  meri 
dian  of  longitude,  then  north  on  said  meridian 
to  the  fortieth  parallel  of  latitude,  then  east 
on  said  parallel  of  latitude  to  the  western  bound 
ary  of  the  State  of  Missouri,  then  southward 
with  said  boundary  to  the  beginning ;  and 
until  the  next  congressional  apportionment  the 
said  State  shall  have  one  representative  in  the 
House  of  Representatives  of  the  United  States. 

SEC.  17.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  said 
commissioners  shall  receive,  as  their  compensa 
tion,  ten  dollars  per  day  during  their  attendance 
on  the  business  of  said  commission,  beginning 
on  the  day  they  depart  from  home,  and  their 
actual  expenses,  and  said  secretary  of  the  board 
the  sum  of  eight  dollars  per  day,  computed  in 
like  manner,  and  his  expenses,  and  the  said 
assistants,  for  taking  the  census,  shall  receive 
tmch  reasonable  compensation  as  the  board  shall 
deem  just  and  equitable. 

SEC.  18.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  in 
asmuch  as  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States 
and  the  organic  act  of  said  Territory  have  secured 
to  the  inhabitants  thereof  certain  inalienable 
rights  of  which  they  cannot  be  deprived  by  any 
legislative  enactment,  therefore  no  religious 
test  shall  ever  be  required  as  a  qualification  to 
any  office  or  public  trust ;  no  law  shall  be  in 
force  or  enforced  in  said  Territory  respecting  an 
establishment  of  religion,  or  prohibiting  the  free 
exercise  thereof;  or  abridging  the  freedom  of 
speech,  or  of  the  press ;  or  of  the  right  of  the 
people  peaceably  to  assemble,  and  petition  for 
the  redress  of  grievances  ;  the  right  of  the  people 
to  be  secure  in  their  persons,  houses,  papers,  and 
effects  against  unreasonable  searches  and  seiz 
ures  shall  not  be  violated ;  and  no  warrant 
shall  issue  but  upon  probable  cause,  supported 
by  oath  or  affirmation,  and  particularly  describ 
ing  the  place  to  be  searched,  and  the  person  or 
things  to  be  seized ;  nor  shall  the  rights  of  the 
people  to  keep  and  bear  arms  be  infringed.  No 
person  shall  be  held  to  answer  for  a  capital  or 
otherwise  infamous  crime,  unless  on  a  present 
ment  or  indictment  of  a  grand  jury;  nor  shall 
any  person  be  subject  for  the  same  offense  to  be 
twice  put  in  jeopardy  of  lifeor  limb  ;  nor  shall  be 
compelled  in  any  criminal  case  to  be  a  witness 
against  himself,  nor  be  deprived  of  life,  liberty, 
or  property  without  due  process  of  law  ;  nor  shall 
private  property  be  taken  for  public  use  with 
out  just  compensation.  In  all  criminal  prosecu 
tion,  the  accused  shall  enjoy  the  right  to  a  speedy 
and  public  trial  by  an  impartial  jury  of  the  district 
wherein  the  crirno  shall  have  been  committed, 
which  district  shall  have  been  previously  as 
certained  by  law,  and  to  be  informed  of  the 


nature  and  cause  of  the  accusation ;  to  be  con 
fronted  with  the  witnesses  against  him ;  to  have 
compulsory  process  of  obtaining  witnesses  in  his 
favor,  and'to  have  the  assistance  of  counsel  for 
his  defense.  The  privilege  of  habeas  corpus  shall 
not  be  suspended,  unless  when  in  case  of  rebel 
lion  or  invasion,  the  public  safety  may  require 
it.  In  suits  at  common  law,  where  the  value  in 
controversy  shall  exceed  twenty  dollars,  the 
right  of  trial  by  Jury  shall  be  preserved,  and 
no  fact  tried  by  jury  shall  be  otherwise  re-ex 
amined  in  any  court  of  the  United  States  than  ac 
cording  to  the  rules  of  the  common  law.  Exces 
sive  bail  shall  not  be  required,  nor  excessive  fines 
imposed,  nor  cruel  and  unusual  punishments 
inflicted.  No  law  shall  be  made  or  have  force 
or  effect  in  said  Territory  which  shall  require  a 
test  oath  or  oath  to  support  any  act  of  Congress  or 
other  legislative  act  as  a  qualification  for  any 
civil  office  or  public  trust,  or  for  any  employ 
ment  or  profession,  or  to  serve  as  a  juror,  or  vote 
at  an  election,  or  which  shall  impose  any  tax 
upon  or  condition  to  the  exercise  of  the  right  of 
suffrage  by  any  qualified  voter,  or  which  shall 
restrain  or  prohibit  the  free  discussion  of  any 
law  or  subject  of  legislation  in  the  said  Territory, 
or  the  free  expression  of  opinion  thereon  by  the 
people  of  said  Territory. 

SEC.  19.  And  be  it  further  enncted,  That  the 
following  propositions  be,  and  the  same  are 
hereby,  offered  to  the  said  convention  of  the 
people  of  Kansas  for  their  free  acceptance  or 
rejection,  which,  if  accepted  by  the  convention, 
shall  be  obligatory  on  the  United  States  and 
upon  the  said  State  of  Kansas,  to  wit  : 

First.  That  sections  numbered  sixteen  and 
thirty-six  in  every  township  of  public  lands  in 
said  State,  and  where  either  of  said  sections  or 
any  part  thereof  has  been  sold  or  otherwise  been 
disposed  of,  other  lands,  equivalent  thereto  and 
as  contiguous  as  may  be,  shall  be  granted  in 
said  State  for  the  use  of  schools. 

Second.  That  seventy-two  sections  of  laud 
shall  be  set  apart  and  reserved  for  the  use  and 
support  of  a  State  university,  to  be  selected  by 
the  Governor  of  said  State,  subject  to  the  approval 
of  the  Commissioner  of  the  General  Land  Office, 
and  to  be  appropriated  and  applied  in  such  man 
ner  as  the  legislature  of  said  State  may  pre 
scribe  for  the  purpose  aforesaid,  but  for  no  other 
purpose. 

Third.  That  ten  entire  sections  of  land,  to  be 
selected  by  the  governor  of  said  State,  in  legal 
subdivisions,  shall  be  granted  to  said  State  for 
the  purpose  of  completing  the  public  buildings, 
or  for  the  erection  of  others  at  the  seat  of  gov 
ernment,  under  the  direction  of  the  legislature 
thereof. 

Fourth.  That  all  salt  springs  within  said 
State,  not  exceeding  twelve  in  number,  with  six 
sections  of  land  adjoining,  or  as  contiguous  as 
may  be  to  each,  shall  be  granted  to  said  State 
for  its  use  ;  the  same  to  be-selected  by  the  gov 
ernor  thereof  within  one  year  after  the  admis 
sion  of  said  State,  and,  when  so  selected,  to  be 
used  or  disposed  of  on  such  terms,  conditions, 
and  regulations  as  the  legislature  shall  direct. 
Provided,  That  no  salt  spring  or  land,  the  right 
whereof  is  now  vested  in  any  individual  or  indi 
viduals,  or  which  may  be  hereafter  confirmed 
or  adjudged  to  any  individual  or  individuals, 
shall  by  this  article  be  granted  to  said  State. 

Fifth.  That  five  per  centum  of  the  net  pro 
ceeds  of  sales  of  all  public  lands  lying  within 
said  State,  which  shall  be  sold  by  Congress  after 
the  admission  of  said  State  into  the  Union,  after 
deducting  all  the  expenses  incident  to  the  same, 
shall  be  paid  to  said  State,  for  the  purpose  of 
making  public  roads  and  internal  improvements, 
as  the  legislature  shall  direct :  Provided,  The 
foregoing  propositions  herein  offered  are  on  the 


THE  KANSAS-NEBRASKA  STRUGGLE. 


161 


condition,  that  the  said  convention  which  shall 
form  the  constitution  of  said  State  shall  provide, 
by  a  clause  in  said  constitution,  or  an  ordinance, 
irrevocable  without  the  consent  of  the  United 
States,  that  said  State  shall  never  interfere  with 
the  primary  disposal  of  the  soil  within  the  same, 
by  the  United  States,  or  with  any  regulations 
Congress  may  find  necessary  for  securing  the 
title  in  said  soil  to  bonafide  purchasers  thereof, 
and  that  no  tax  shall  be  imposed  on  lands  be 
longing  to  the  United  States,  and  that  in  no  case 
shall  non-resident  proprietors  be  taxed  higher 
than  resident^. 

SEC.  20.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  the 
President  be,  and  is  hereby,  authorized  and 
empowered,  upon  application  of  the  said  board 
of  commissioners,  to  employ  such  military  force, 
according  to  existing  laws,  as  he  shall  deem 
necessary  to  secure  the  faithful  execution  of  the 
provisions  of  this  act. 

Passed  the  Senate,  July  2,  1856. 

Attest:  ASBURY  DICKINS, 

Secretary. 

The  bill  was  never  acted  on  in  the  House, 
but  lay  on  the  Speaker's  table,  untouched, 
when  the  session  terminated  by  adjournment, 
Monday,  Aug.  18th. 

July  8th. — In  Senate,  Mr.  Douglas  re 
ported  back  from  the  Committee  on  Terri 
tories  the  House  bill  to  admit  Kansas  as  a 
State,  with  an  amendment  striking  out  all 
after  the  enacting  clause,  and  inserting  in 
stead  the  Senate  bill  (No.  356)  just  given. 

Mr.  Hale  of  N.  H.  moved  to  amend  this 
substitute  by  providing  that  all  who  migrate 
to  the  Territory  prior  to  July  4th,  1857, 
shall  be  entitled  to  a  vote  in  determining 
the  character  of  the  institutions  of  Kansas  : 
Lost ;  Yeas  13  ;  Nays  32. 

Mr.  Trumbull,  of  111.  moved  that  all 
the  Territorial  laws  of  Kansas  be  repealed 
and  the  Territorial  officers  dismissed  :  Re 
jected  ;  Yeas  12  ;  Nays  32. 

Mr.  Oollamer  of  Vt.  proposed  an  amend 
ment,  prohibiting  Slavery  in  all  that  por 
tion  of  the  Louisiana  purchase  north  of 
36°  30'  not  included  in  the  Territory  of 
Kansas  :  Rejected — Yeas  12  ;  Nays  30 — as 
follows  : 

YEAS  —  Messrs.  Bell  of  N.  H.,  Collamer, 
Dodge,  Fessenden,  Fish,  Foot,  Foster,  Hale, 
Hamiin,  Seward,  Trumbull  and  Wade. 

NAYS — Messrs.  Adams,  Bayard,  Benjamin, 
Biggs,  Bright,  Brodhead,  Butler,  Cass,  Clay, 
Crittenden,  Douglas,  Fitzpatrick,  Geyer,  Hunter, 
Iverson,  Johnson,  Jones  of  Iowa,  Jon^s  of  Tenn., 
Mallory,  Mason,  Pearce,  Pugh,  Reid,  Sebastian, 
Slidell,  Stuart,  Thompson  of  Ky.,  Toombs,  Wel- 
er  and  Yulee. 

The  substitute  reported  by  Mr.  Douglas 
w^as  then  agreed  to  :  Yeas  32  ;  Nays  13 — 
and  the  bill  in  this  shape  passed. 

[This  amendment  was  not  concurred  in 
nor  ever  acted  on  by  the  House.] 

July  29th.— Mr.  Dunn  of  Ind.  called  up 
a  bill  "  To  reorganize  the  Territory  of  Kan 
sas  and  for  other  purposes,"  which  he  had 
originally  (July  7th)  proposed  as  a  substi 
tute  for  Senate  bill  (No.  356)  aforesaid. 
Its  length,  and  the  substantial  identity  of 
11 


many  of  its  provisions  with  those  of  other 
bills  organizing  Territories  contained  in 
this  volume,  dissuade  us  from  quoting  it 
entire.  It  provides  for  a  legislative  elec 
tion  on  the  first  Tuesday  in  November  next ; 
and  section  7  proceeds  : 

But  it  shall  not  be  competent  for  said  Legisla 
tive  Assembly  to  pass  any  ex  post  facto  law,  or 
law  impairing  the  validity  of  contracts  ;  nor  any 
law  in  abridgment  of  the  freedom  of  speech  or 
of  the  press,  or  to  deprive  any  one  of  the  right  of 
trial  by  jury,  or  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  ; 
nor  any  law  requiring  any  property  qualification, 
or  religious  test,  for  the  right  to  vote,  hold  office, 
or  practice  law,  or  serve  on  juries,  in  any  Court 
of  Justice  ;  neither  shall  any  person,  to  be  enti 
tled  to  any  of  said  privileges,  be  required  to  take 
an  oath  or  affirmation  to  support  any  law  other 
than  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States. 
Nor  shall  cruel  or  unusual  punishments  be  al 
lowed,  nor  reasonable  bail  be  refused  to  any 
person  accused  of  any  crime  except  treason  and 
murder,  nor  in  the  latter  case  unless  the  proof  is 
evident  or  the  presumption  great. 

**•*#* 

Sec.  15.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  all 
suits,  processes,  and  proceedings,  civil  and 
criminal,  at  law  and  in  chancery,  and  all  in 
dictments  and  informations  which  shall  be  pend 
ing  and  undetermined  in  the  courts  of  the  Terri 
tory  of  Kansas  or  of  New-Mxeico,  when  this  act 
shall  take  effect,  shall  remain  in  said  courts 
where  pending,  to  be  heard,  tried,  prosecuted,  and 
determined  in  such  courts  as  though  this  act  had 
not  been  passed:  Provided,  nevertheless,  That 
all  criminal  prosecutions  now  pending  in  any  of 
the  courts  of  the  Territory  of  Kansas  imputing  to 
any  person  or  persons  the  crime  of  treason 
against  the  United  States,  and  all  criminal  prose 
cutions,  by  information  or  indictment,  against 
any_person  or  persons  for  any  alleged  violation 
or  disregard  whatever  of  what  are  usually  known 
as  the  laws  of  the  Legislature  of  Kansas,  shall  be 
forthwith  dismissed  by  the  courts  where  such 
prosecutions  may  be  pending,  and  every  person 
who  may  be  restrained  of  his  liberty  by  reason  of 
said  prosecutions,  shall  be  released  therefrom 
without  delay.  Nor  shall  there  hereafter  be  insti 
tuted  any  criminal  prosecution,  in  any  of  the 
courts  of  the  United  States,  or  of  said  Territory, 
against  any  person  or  persons  for  any  such 
charge  of  treason  in  said  Territory  prior  to  the 
passage  of  this  act,  or  any  violation  or  disregard 
of  said  Legislative  enactments  at  any  time. 

Sec.  16.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  all 
justices  of  the  peace,  constables,  sheriffs,  and  all 
other  judicial  and  ministerial  officers,  who  shall 
be  in  office  within  the  limits  of  said  Territory 
when  this  act  shall  take  effect,  shall  be,  and  they 
are  hereby,  authorized  and  required  to  continue 
to  exercise  and  perform  the  duties  of  their  re 
spective  offices  as  officers  of  the  Territory  of 
Kansas,  temporarily,  and  until  they,  or  others, 
shall  be  duly  appointed  and  qualified  to  fill  then- 
places,  in  the  manner  herein  directed,  or  until 
their  offices  shall  be  abolished. 

Sec.  23  grants  to  every  actual  settler  a  right 
of  preemption  to  the  quarter-section  of  public 
and  improved  and  occupied  by  him  in  said  Ter 
ritory  of  Kansas,  prior  to  Jan.  1st,  1858. 

The  two  last  and  most  important  sections 
of  Mr.  Dunn's  bill  are  verbatim  as  follows  : 

Sec.  24.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  so 
much  of  the  fourteenth  section,  and  also  so  much 
of  the  thirty-second  section,  of  the  act  passed  at 
;he  first  session  of  the  thirty-third  Congress, 


162 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR   SLAVERY    RESTRICTION. 


commonly  known  as  the  Kansas-Nebraska  act, 
as  reads  as  follows,  to  wit:  "Except  the  eighth 
section  of  the  act  preparatory  to  the  admission 
of  Missouri  into  the  Union,  approved  March  6, 
1820,  which  being  inconsistent  with  the  principle 
of  non-intervention  by  Congress  with  Slavery  in 
the  States  and  Territories  as  recognized  by  the 
legislation  of  1850,  commonly  called  the  Com 
promise  Measures,  is  hereby  declared  inopera 
tive  and  void ;  it  being^  the  true  intent  and  mean 
ing  of  this  act  not  to  legislate  Slavery  into  any 
Territory  or  State,  nor  to  exclude  it  therefrom,  but 
to  leave" the  people  thereof  perfectly  free  to  form 
and  regulate  their  domestic  institutions  in  then- 
own  way,  subject  only  to  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States:  Provided,  That  nothing 
herein  contained  shall  be  construed  to  revive 
or  put  in  force  any  law  or  regulation  which  may 
have  existed  prior  to  the  act  of  6th  March,  1820, 
either  protecting,  establishing,  prohibiting,  or 
abolishing  Slavery" — be  and  the  same  is  hereby 
repealed,  and  the  said  eighth  section  of  said  act  of 
the  6th  of  March,  1820,  is  hereby  revived  and  de 
clared  to  be  in  full  force  and  effect  within  the  said 
Territories  of  Kansas  and  Nebraska  :  Provided, 
Jioioever,  That  any  person  lawfully  held  to  ser 
vice  in  either  of  said  Territories  shall  not  be  dis 
charged  from  such  service  by  reason  of  such  re 
peal  and  revival  of  said  eighth  section,  if  such 
person  shall  be  permanently  removed  from  such 
Territory  or  Territories  prior  to  the  1st  day  of 
January,  1858 ;  and  any  child  or  children  born 
in  either  of  said  Territories,  of  any  female  law 
fully  held  to  service,  if  in  like  manner  re 
moved  without  said  Territories  before  the  expira 
tion  of  that  date,  shall  not  be,  by  reason  of  any 
thing  in  this  act,  emancipated  from  any  service 
it  might  have  owed  had  this  act  never  been 
passed :  And  provided  further,  That  any  per 
son  lawfully  held  to  service  iu  any  other  State  or 
Territory  of  the  United  States,  and  escaping  into 
either  the  Territory  of  Kansas  or  Nebraska,  may 
be  reclaimed  and  removed  to  the  person  or  place 
where  such  service  is  due,  under  any  law  of  the 
United  States  which  shall  be  in  force  upon  the 
subject. 

.  Sec.  25.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  all 
other  parts  of  the  aforesaid  Kansas-Nebraska 
act  which  relate  to  the  said  Territory  of  Kansas, 
and  every  other  law  or  usage  having,  or  which 
is  pretended  to  have,  any  force  or  effect  in 
said  Territory  in  conflict  with  the  provisions  or 
the  spirit  of  this  act,  except  such  laws  of  Cou- 

§ress  and  treaty  stipulations  as  relate  to  the  In- 
iaus,  are  hereby  repealed,  and  declared  void. 

Mr.  Dunn  having  carried  a  reference  to  the 
Committee  of  the  Whole,  of  a  bill  introduced 
by  Mr.  Grow,  repealing  all  the  acts  of  the  al 
leged  Territorial  Legislature  of  Kansas,  now 
moved  and  carried  a  reconsideration  of  that 
vote,  and  proceeded  to  the  striking  out  of 
Mr.  Grow's  bill  and  the  insertion  of  his  own 
as  a  substitute.  This  motion  prevailed. 
Whereupon  Mr.  Dunn  moved  the  previous 
question  on  ordering  this  bill  to  be  engrossed 
and  read  a  third  time,  which  prevailed — 
Yeas  92  ;  Nays  86 — and  then  the  bill  passed 
—Yeas  88  ;  Nays  74 — as  follows  : 

YEAS— Messrs.  Albright,  Allison,  Ball,  Bar- 
bour,  Benson,  Bishop,  Bliss,  Bradshaw,  Brenton, 
Buffinton,  Campbell  of  Pa.,  Campbell  of  Ohio, 
Chaft'ee,  Clawson,  Colfax,  Comins,  Covode, 
Cumback,  Damroll,  Dean,  Dick,  Dodd,  Dunn, 
Durfee,  Edie,  Edwards,  Emrie,  Flagler,  Gid- 
diugs,  Gilbert,  Granger,  Grow,  Hall  of  Mass., 
Harlan,  Harrison,  Haven,  Ilolloway,  Horton  of 
N.  Y.,  Horton  of  Ohio,  Hughston,  Kelsey,  King, 


Knapp,  Knight,  Knowlton,  Kuox,  Kunkel,  Mat- 
teson,  M'Carty,  Miller,  Moore,  Morgan,  Merrill, 
Nichols,  Norton,  Oliver,  Parker,  Pelton,  Perry, 
Pettit,  Pringle,  Purviance,  Ritchie,  Sabin,  Sage, 
Sapp,  Sherman,  Simmons,  Spinner,  Stanton, 
Stranahan,  Tappan,  Thurston,  Todcl,  Trafton, 
Wade,  Wakeman,  Walbridge,  Waldron,  Wash- 
burne  of  111.,  Washburn  of  Me.,  Watson, 
Welch,  Wells,  Wood,  Woodruff,  Woodworth— 
88. 

NAYS— Messrs.  Aiken,  Barksdale,  Bell, 
Bowie,  Branch,  Broom,  Burnett,  Campbell  of 
Kentucky,  Carlile,  Caruthers,  Caskie,  Cobb  of 
Ga.,  Cobb  of  Ala.,  Cox,  Craige,  Crawford,  Cul- 
len,  Davidson,  Davis  of  Md.,  Denver,  Dowdell, 
Edmundson,  English,  Faulkner,  Foster,  Goode, 
Greenwood,  Harris  of  Md.,  Harris  of  Ala.,  Harris 
of  Illinois,  Houston,  Jewett,  Jones  of  Term., 
Jones  of  Penn.,  Kennett,  Kidwell,  Lake,  Leiter, 
Lumpkin,  II.  Marshall  of  Kentucky,  Marshall  of 
Illinois,  Maxwell,  Miller  of  Indiana,  Millson, 
Packer,  Peck,  Phelps,  Powell,  Puryear,  Quit- 
man,  Reade,  Ready,  Ricaud,  Rivers,  Ruffin, 
Savage,  Shorter,  Smith  of  Tenn.,  Smith  of  Va., 
Sneed,  Stephens,  Stewart,  Swope,  Taylor, 
Trippe,  Underwood,  Valk,  Walker,  Warner, 
Watkins,  Winslow,  Wright  of  Miss.,  Wright  of 
Tenn.,  and  Zollicoffer — 74. 

This  bill  was  not  acted  on  by  the  Senate. 

The  House  in  the  course  of  its  action  on  the 
several  Annual  Appropriation  bills,  affixed  to 
several  of  them,  respectively,  provisos,  abol 
ishing,  repealing,  or  suspending  the  various 
obnoxious  acts  of  the  Territorial  Legisla 
ture  ;  but  all  these  were  resisted  by  the  Sen 
ate,  and  were  ultimately  given  up  by  the 
House,  save  one  appropriating  $20,000  for 
the  pay  and  expenses  of  the.  next  Territorial 
Legislature,  which  the  Senate  gave  up,  on 
finding  itself  in  serious  disagreement  with 
the  House,  and  thus  secured  the  passage  of 
the  Civil  Appropriation  bill.  Finally  the  two 
Houses  were  at  odds,  on  a  proviso  forbidding 
the  employment  of  the  Army  to  enforce  the 
acts  of  the  Shawnee  Mission  assemblage, 
claiming  to  be  a  Territorial  Legislature  of 
Kansas,  when,  at  noon  on  the  18th  of  August, 
the  Speaker's  hammer  fell,  announcing  the 
termination  of  the  session,  leaving  the  Army 
bill  unpassed.  But  President  Pierce  imme 
diately  issued  a  proclamation  convening  an 
extra  session  on  the  21st  (Thursday),  when 
the  two  Houses  reconvened  accordingly,  and 
a  full  quorum  of  each  was  found  to  be  pre 
sent.  The  House  promptly  repassed  the 
Army  bill,  again  affixing  a  proviso  forbid 
ding  the  use  of  the  army  to  enforce  the  dis 
puted  Territorial  laws,  which  proviso  the 
Senate  as  promptly  struck  out,  and  the 
House  as  promptly  reinserted.  The  Senate 
insisted  on  its  disagreement,  but  asked  no 
conference,  and  the  House  (Au^.  22d)  by  a 
close  vote  decided  to  adhere  to  its  proviso  : 
Yeas  97 ;  Nays  93  ;  but  one  of  the  yeas 
(Bocock  of  Ya.)  was  so  given  in  order  to 
be  able  to  move  a  reconsideration  ;  so  that 
the  true  division  was  96  to  94,  which  was 
the  actual  division  on  a  motion  by  Mr.  Cobb 
of  Ga.  that  the  House  recede  from  its  posi 
tion.  Finally,  a  motion  to  reconsider  was 


THE  KANSAS-NEBRASKA  STRUGGLE. 


163 


made  and  laid  on  the  table  :  Yeas  97  ;  Nays 
96  ;  and  the  House  thereupon  adjourned. 

Aug.  23d. — The  Senate  also  voted  to  ad 
here  :  Yeas  35  ;  Nays  9. 

Mr.  Clayton  proposed  a  Committee  of 
Conference^  to  which  Mr.  Seward  objected. 
No  action. 

In  the  House,  Mr.  Campbell  of  Ohio  pro 
posed  a  similar  Committee  of  Conference. 
Objected  to. 

Mr.  Matteson  of  New-York  submitted 
the  following  : 

Whereas,  By  an  act  passed  by  the  two  Houses 
of  Congress,  and  approved  by  the  President,  en 
titled  "  Joint  resolution  for  annexing  Texas  to 
the  United  States,  approved  March  1,  1845,"  ar 
ticles  of  compact  were  offered  to  Texas  for  her 
admission  into  the  Union  "  upon  certain  condi 
tions  and  guarantees,"  the  third  article  of  which 
tendered  compact  was  in  these  words  : 

"  New  States  of  convenient  size,  not  exceeding  four 
in  number,  in  addition  to  said  State  of  Texas,  and 
having  sufficient  population,  may  hereafter,  by  the 
consent  of  said  State,  be  formed  out  of  the  Territory 
thereof,  which  shall  be  entitled  to  admission  under 
the  Federal  Constitution  ;  and  such  States  as  may  be 
formed  out  of  that  portion  of  said  Territory  lying  south 
of  36*  30'  north  latitude,  commonly  known  as  the 
Missouri  Compromise  line,  shall  be  admitted  into  the 
Union,  with  or  without  Slavery,  as  the  people  of  each 
Stato  asking  admission  may  desire  ;  and  in  such 
State  or  States  as  shall  be  formed  out  of  said  Terri 
tory  north  of  said  Compromise  line,  Slavery  or  invol 
untary  servitude  (except  for  crime)  shall  be  prohibit 
ed  ;" 

And  whereas,  Texas,  by  a  solemn  public  act, 
done  in  a  convention  of  the  people,  according  to 
the  requirements  of  the  said  act  of  Congress,  did 
accept  the  said  articles  of  compact,  and  was  ad 
mitted  into  the  Union  as  one  ot  the  United  States 
upon  the  "  conditions  and  guarantees"  men 
tioned  in  said  joint  resolution,  and  is  now  a 
State  of  this  Union  in  virtue  thereof; 

And  whereas.  The  said  third  article  of  com 
pact  as  aforesaid,  containing  a  limitation  of  Sla 
very  in  restricting  the  number  of  Slave  States  to 
be  formed  in  Texas  south  of  thirty-six  degrees 
thirty  minutes,  to  four  States  in  addition  to 
Texas  itself,  and  also  a  prohibition  of  Slavery, 
except  for  crime,  north  of  thirty-six  degrees  thirty 
minutes  north  latitude,  is  an  independent  and 
substantive  motion,  irrepealable  by  either  of  the 
contracting  parties  without  the  consent  of  the 
other,  and  is  not  repealed  by  the  Kansas-Ne 
braska  act,  and  could  not  be  repealed  by  that 
act: 

Therefore,  bb  it  resolved,  That  Slavery,  except 
for  crime,  in  all  that  part  of  the  former  province 
of  Louisiana  north  of  latitude  thirty-six  degrees 
thirty  minutes  is  and  remains  prohibited,  and 
that  the  President  of  the  United  States  is  under 
a  double  obligation  to  see  that  provision  faith 
fully  executed,  both  as  a  law  of  Congress  and  as 
a  compact  with  a  then  foreign  power,  for  a  great 
and  valuable  consideration. 

And  whereas,  Besides  being  a  compact  with 
Texas,  the  said  third  article  was  a  compromise 
between  the  Free  and  Slave  States  of  this  Union 
with  limitation  of  Slavery,  both  as  to  the  number 
of  Slave  States  which  might  be  formed  in  Texas, 
and  the  prohibition  of  Slavery  north  of  thirty-six 
degrees  thirty  minutes,  by  virtue  of  which  Texas 
was  admitted  into  the  Union,  and  without  which 
she  could  not  have  been  admitted  :  Therefore, 

Be  it  resolved,  That  any  attempt  to  violate 
said  third  article  of  compromise,  either  by  ad 
mitting  a  greater  number  of  Slave  States  south 
of  thirty-six  degrees  thirty  minutes  than  allowed 


therein,  or  by  extending  Slavery  north  of  that 
latitude,  is  a  violation  of  said  compromise  and 
a  direct  attack  upon  the  harmony  and  stability 
of  the  Union. 

Mr.  Dunn  of  Ind.  moved  that  this  do  lie 
on  the  table :  Carried  :  Yeas  101  ;  Nays 
83. 

Mr.  Cobb  of  Ga.  moved  that  the  House 
recede  from  its  Kansas  proviso  :  Defeated  : 
Yeas  97  ;  Nays  100.  Adjourned. 

The  struggle  for  the  passage  of  the  bill 
with  or  without  the  proviso  continued  until 
Saturday,  August  30th,  when,  several  mem 
bers,  hostile  to  the  proviso,  and  hitherto 
absent,  unpaired,  having  returned,  the  House 
again  passed  the  Army  bill  with  the  proviso 
modified  as  follows  : 

Provided,  however,  that  no  part  of  the  milita 
ry  force  of  the  United  States,  for  the  support  of 
which  appropriations  are  made  by  this  act,  shall 
be  employed  in  aid  of  the  enforcement  of  any 
enactments  heretofore  made  by  the  body  claim 
ing  to  be  the  Territorial  Legislature  of  Kansas. 

The  bill  passed  as  reported  (under  the 
Previous  Question :)  Yeas  99  ;  Nays  79  ; 
and  was  sent  to  the  Senate,  where  the  above 
Proviso  was  stricken  out :  Yeas  26  ;  Nays 
7  ;  and  the  bill  thus  returned  to  the  House, 
when  the  Senate's  amendment  was  concur 
red  in  by  the  following  vote  : 

YEAS — Messrs.  Aiken,  Akers,  Barksdale,  Bell, 
Bennett  of  Miss.,  Bocock,  Bowie,  Boyce,  Branch, 
Burnett,  Cadwalader,  Campbell  of  Ky.,  Carlile, 
Caskie,  Clingman,  Cobb  of  Ga.,  Cobb  of  Ala., 
Cox,  Craige,  Crawford,  Cullen,  Davidson,  Da 
vis  of  Md.,  Denver,  Dowdell,  Edmundson,  Elliott, 
Etheredge,  Eustis,  Evans,  Faulkner,  Florence, 
Fuller  of  Me.,  Goode,  Greenwood,  Hall  of  Iowa, 
Harris  of  Md.,  Harris  of  Ala,,  Harris  of  111.,  Har 
rison,  Haven,  HICKMAN,  Hoffman,  Houston, 
Jewett,  Jones  of  Tenn.,  Jones  of  Penn.,  Keitt, 
Kelly,  Kennett,  Kidwell,  Lake,  Letcher,  Lump- 
kin,  A.  K.  Marshall  of  Ky.,  Humphrey  Marshall 
of  Ky.,  Marshall  of  111.,  Maxwell,  McMullen, 
McQueen,  Miller  of  Ind.,  Millson,  Oliver  of  Mo., 
On-,  Packer,  Peck,  Phelns,  Porter,  Powell, 
Puryear,  Quitman,  Kicaud,  Rivei-s,  Ruffin,  Rust, 
Sandidge,  Savage,  Seward,  Shorter,  Smith  of 
Tenn.,  Smith  of  Va.,  Smith  of  Ala.,Sneed,  Ste 
phens,  Stewart,  Swope,  Talbott,  Taylor,  Tyson, 
Underwood,  Vail,  Walker,  Warner,  Wells, 
Wheeler,  Whitney,  Williams,  Winslow,  Wright 
of  Miss.,  Wright  of  Tenn.,  and  Zollicoffer— 101. 

NAYS — Messrs.  Albright,  Allison,  Barbour, 
BARCLAY,  Bennett  of  N.  Y.,  Benson,  Billing- 
hurst,  Bingham,  Bliss,  Bradshaw,  Brenton,  Buf- 
finton,  Campbell  of  Penn.,  Campbell  of  Ohio 
Chaffee,  E.  Clark,  Clawson,  Colfax,  Comins,  Co- 
vode,  Cragin,  Cumback,  Damrell,  Davis  of 
Mass.,  Dean,  Dewitt,  Dick,  Dickson,  Dodd, 
Dunn,  Durfee,  Edie,  Edwards,  Emrie,  Flagler, 
Galloway,  Giddings,  Gilbert,  Granger,  Grow, 
Harlan,  Hollowny,  Horton  of  N.  Y.,  Howard, 
Hughston,  Kelsey,  King.  Knapp,  Knight,  Knowl- 
ton,  Knox,  Kunkel,  Leiter,  Mace,  Matteson,  Me- 
Carty,  Morgan,  Mott,  Murray,  Norton,  Oliver  of 
N.  Y.,  Parker,  Pelton,  Pennington,  Pettit,  Pike, 
Pringlo,  Purviauce,  Ritchie,  Roberts,  Robbins, 
Robison,  Sabin,  Sage,  Sapp,  Scott,  Sherman, 
Simmons,  Spinner,  Stanton,  Strauahan,  Tappan, 
Thorington,  Thurston,  Todd,  Trafton,  Wade, 
Wakemau,  Walbridge,  Waldron,  Washburneof 
111.,  Washburne  of  Wise.,  Washburn  of  Me., 
Welch,  Woodruff,  and  Woodworth— 97. 


164 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  SLAVERY  RESTRICTION. 


So  the  Proviso  was  beaten  at  last,  and  the 
bill  passed,  with  no  restriction  on  the  Pre 
sident's  discretion  in  the  use  of  the  Army  in 
Kansas  ;  just  as  all  attempts  of  the  House, 
to  direct  the  President  to  have  a  nolle  pro- 
scqui  entered  in  the  case  of  the  Free-State 
prisoners  in  Kansas  charged  with  aiding 
the  formation  and  adoption  of  the  Free-State 
constitution  as  aforesaid,  had  been  previous 
ly  beaten,  after  prevailing  in  the  House — 
the  Senate  striking  them  out  and  the  House 
(by  a  union  of  nearly  all  the  supporters  of 


Fillmore  with  nearly  or  quite  all  those  sup 
porting  Buchanan)  finally  acquiescing. 

In  conclusion,  it  may  be  said,  generally, 
that  nothing  has  been  really  done,  or  (owing 
to  the  triangular  division  of  parties)  could 
have  been  done,  by  this  Congress  with  re 
gard  to  Kansas,  except  to  collect,  authenti 
cate,  and  present  facts  to  be  considered  and 
acted  on  by  the  People  in  the  ensuing  Pre 
sidential  and  Congressional  elections.  By 
the  result  of  these,  in  all  human  probability, 
the  fate  of  Kansas  is  now  to  be  decided. 


A  JOURNEY  IN  THE 

SEABOARD  SLAVE  STATES, 

WITH  REMARKS  ON  THEIR  ECONOMY, 

BY     FREDERICK      LAW     OLMSTED, 

AUTHOR  OF  ''WALKS  AND  TALKS  OF  AX  AMERICAN  FARMER  ix  ENGLAND.'' 

FOURTH    EDITION. 

Illustrated  with  Wood  Engravings.     1  thick  vol.     $1.25. 


EXTRACT  FROM  AN  ARTICLE  IN  THE  NORTH  AMERICAN  QUARTERLY  REVIEW. 
Mr.  Olmsted,  a  practical  farmer,  with  very  ready  habits  of  observation,  as 
his  book  of  English  travel  shows,  well  read  in  the  history  of  the  States  he  passes 
through,  traveled  from  Washington,  slowly,  and  availed  himself  of  excellent 
opportunities  of  examining  the  systems  of  farming,  that  is  to  say,  the  social 
systems,  of  the  Southern  Seaboard  States.  These  systems,  it  must  be  remem 
bered,  differ  widely  from  one  another.  The  tobacco '  and  wheat  culture  of 
Virginia,  the  rosiu  and  turpentine  manufacture  of  North  Carolina,  the  rice  crop 
of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  the  sugar  crop  of  Louisiana,  each  presents  the 
system  of  slavery  in  a  different  light.  Each  requires  hands  to  be  bought  and 
.sold,  bred,  nurtured,  trained,  and  kept,  in  its  own  way.  The  planter  in  Virginia 
knows  scarcely  more,  by  his  own  experience,  what  slavery  is  in  Louisiana,  than 
he  knows  of  the  working  of  a  steam-engine  in  the  Cornwall  mines. 

Addressing  himself  to  his  duty,  with  just  the  de.^irable  combination  of 
qualifications  for  it,  Mr.  Olmsted  has  made  of  his  book  of  travels  a  standard 
compend  of  valuable  information.  He  is  a  Northern  man,  and  he  has  what  are 
called  Northern  principles  ;  but,  we  doubt  n«»t,  his  book  will  soon  be  greatly 
valued  at  the  South,  for  the  same  reason  as  at  the  North.  It  seems  to  us  singu 
larly  fair.  It  cannot,  of  course,  be  wholly  free  from  travelers'  mistakes,  but  we 
have  not  detected  any;  and  it  should  be  understood,  that  it  is  no  mere  trav. 
sketch-book,  but  that  it  contains  studies  on  the  labor  and  history  of  the  Southern 
States,  which  are  evidently  the  results  of  very  careful  investigation.  To  all 
those  persons,  therefore,  who  look  upon  the  Slavery  question  as  a  problem, 
requirin^a  practical  solution,  this  book  comes  in  as  a  stepping-stone,  which  will 
lift  that  discussion  to  a  range  decidedly  higher  than  it  has  ever  held  before. 

It  is  understood  that  Mr.  Olmsted  continued  his  journey  from  Louisiana, 
as  far  as  Texas,  and  that  he  returned  through  the  Slave  States  which  are  not 
on  the  seaboard.  We  hope  that  another  volume  may  give  us  the  results  of  his 
studies  and  observations  in  them.  The  whole  range  of  travel,  as  thus  gone 
over,  involves  as  much  novelty  as  travel  in  any  part  of  the  world. 

%*  Sent  free  by  Mail,  on  receipt  of  price,  to  any  part  of  the  United  States. 


N  0  W     PRINTING: 

A.    JOTJRISnmY    IIST    TEXA.S, 

BY     THE     SAME     AUTHOR. 

DIX,  EDWARDS  &  CO.,  321  Broadway. 


321  BROADWAY,  *    "  SEPTEMBER  1,  1856. 


LIST     OF 


D  iii. 


&    CO 


KpKVv.  V'  ,  's  Works. 

12mc 
VOL.  1. 

••     2.  Nli^j'.  1  '• 

| 

ORIENTAL  ACQUAINTANCE;    in  a  series  of  Letters  from  Asia  Minor. 

By  J.  AV.  DE  FORREST. 

in. 
THE  GOLDEN  DAGON;  or,  Up  and  Down  the  Irrawaddi.     Being  Passa- 

ages  of  Adventure  in  the  Burman  Empire.     By  an  American. 

IV. 

THE  POLITICAL  ESSAYS  OF  PARKE  GODWIN,  ESQ.  Reprinted, 
for  the  most  part,  from  "  Putnam's  Monthly." 

v. 

TRAVELS  THROUGH  TEXAS.  BY  FREDERICK  LAW  OLMSTEP. 
A  Continuation  of  his  •'  Seaboard  Slave  States." 

VI. 

LIFE  IN  CALIFORNIA,  as  Noticed  and  Noted  by  a  Lady.  BY  MRS. 
E.  W.  FAKXIIAM. 

VII. 

JUNIUS— LORD  CHATHAM,  a  Biographical  Statement.  Showing  that 
the  elder  William  Pitt  was  the  writer  of  those  anonymous  letters.  By  WILLIAM 
DOWE. 

VIII. 

BRITTANY  AND  LA  VENDEE,  Tales  and  Sketches,  with  a  Notice  of 
the  Life  and  Literary  Character  of  EMILE  SOUVESTRE. 

IX. 

GREECE  AND  THE  GREEKS  OF  THE  PRESENT  DAY.   By 

EDMUND  ABOUT,  Author  of  '•  Tolla."     (Translated  by  Authority.) 

X. 

TALES  OF  FLEMISH  LIFE.     BY  HENDRIK  CONSCIENCE. 


ILLUSTRATED    BOOKS. 

THE  HISTORY  OF  SIR  THOMAS  THUMB,  by  the  Author  of  "Heir 
of  Redclilfe,"  "  Little  Duke,"  &c.    Beautifully  Illustrated  by  J.  B. 

XII. 

ILLUSTRATIONS  OF  SCRIPTURE.     By  an  ANIMAL  PAINTER.     Beau 
tifully  Photographed,  with  Notes  by  a  Naturalist. 

%*  The  first  book  on  which  this  art  has  been  attempted. 

XIII. 

RICHARD  DOYLE'S  NEW  CHRISTMAS  BOOK.     Being  an  Account 
of  MESSRS.  BROWN,  JONES  &  ROBINSON'S  Sporting  Adventures. 


CHILDREN'S  NEW  BOOKS. 

xiv. 
THE  SCHOOLFELLOW.  Vol.  I.  Illustrated. 

xv. 
GOLD  AND  SILVER.  By  A.  W.  II.  Beautifully  Illustrated. 

XVI. 

ABOUT  NEW  YORK.     BY  PHILIP  WALLYS.     Illustrated. 


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